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THE MASS. 

WHAT IT IS NOT, 
WHAT IT IS. 

BY THE CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY. 



PRICE 35 CENTS. /^o^con 

OFFICE OF SCHOOL JOl 



URNAL, NEWTON, KS.ii *i J / «>7 



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The jUmrary 
of congre3s 

washington 



1 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1893, by 
Kev. M. J. Casey, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, 
at Washington. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

What the Mass is Not.— Non-Catholics do not hate the 
Mass, but a "Romish Mummery" which ignorance or preju- 
dice presents to them instead. The principal objections 
against the Mass answered. Why those outside the Church 
know what the Mass is uot, rather than what it is. 

CHAPTER II. 

Sacrifice in General. -Every nation and people have had 
their sacrifices from the beginning. What the Mass is— a 
true Sacrifice according to Sacred Scripture tradition and 
the concurring testimony of every age from the beginning 
of Christianity. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Derivation of the word Mass.— The different kinds of 

Masses. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Language of the Mass.— Why said in an unknown tongue 
and why in Latin? 

CHAPTER V. 

Why are Vestments used at Mass? The different Vest 
ments worn at the altar, with their history, significance 
and color. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Church Furniture, especially that of the Altar. Complete 
history and significancy of everything used at and around 
the Altar. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Posture to be Assumed by the Faithful during Mass. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Manner of Hearing Mass. Complete explanations. 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Manner of Serving Mass with interesting notes and 
remarks. 



NOTICE. 

In this little pamphlet it has not been 
attempted to give a complete treatise on 
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, neither 
on those things that have immediate re- 
lation to it; nor, indeed, has it been 
deemed necessary in a publication of 
such slight pretensions, to enter into de- 
tail at all. All the writer has endeavored 
to do is to present the reader with a 
cheap and an inelaborate sketch, which 
has no claim, even, to originality — as the 
subject would not admit of it — in hopes 
of creating a thirst for something volumi- 
nous and learned, on a subject so impor- 
tant, by facile pens and master minds. 

Author. 




THE MtfSS. 



aphv I. 

TX)Z 3$ta#0, Too often non- 

i$X)C& it X& $ttft* Catholics judge 
and condemn the doctrines of the church 
on account of What they are not^ rather 
than what they are. This follows as a mat- 
ter of course from hearing and reading 
Catholic doctrines explained by a non- 
Catholic pulpit and press. They get their 
knowledge of the Catholic church as they 
get their knowledge of their religion, from 
texts, verses, half sentences, "chips" and 
"fragments" designedly torn from the 
context, and carefully prepared, improved 
and polished off by successive artistic 
"divines" to serve their purpose, rather 
than convey the truth. These so-called 
divines are not without a purpose. It is 
-done, evidently, to bias the judgment of 



2 THE MASS. 

their hearers and readers, the better to 
create prejudice and perpetuate the same 
against the Catholic Church. It is a pity 
that they have been so successful with a 
class that permits them to do their 
thinking. 

We have said that it is a pity, for there 
is no people on the face of God's earth 
who love justice and truth as the Ameri- 
can. Convince the average American 
and he will soon be pursuaded. Con- 
vince him, and there is no power on earth 
can prevent his acting. Convince him 
and there is no consideration that can 
dissuade him from following what he 
knows to be right. In business, he is 
shrewd; in the professions, learned, and 
in legislative halls, wise. As an American 
citizen we are proud of the rapid strides 
made upward and onward by our young 
giant republic; proud of her world-famed 
institutions; but prouder still of her sons, 
successful beyond all others; yes, in the 
forefront in every walk of life. To pur- 
chase freedom, she has sacrificed on liber- 
ty's altar her bravest and her best; to 



THE MASS. 3 

miintain it peaceably, she has gained the 
proud name of exemplar of the nations; 
to develop her vast and rich domains, as 
well as the concomitant vaster — we were 
about to say — but will content ourselves 
with saying richer, intellects of her sons 
and daughters, she knows not stint cf 
time or money. It is not hard to con- 
jecture why a nation so young has shroud- 
ed herself in glory, and is today the ad- 
miration of every country on the face of 
the globe. A fitting of each individual 
for the part he is to take as a citizen, 
with due respect to his fellow citizens, 
and, the common weal of the whole Union, 
is the secret. When, however, there is 
question of knowledge of Catholic doc- 
trine, the average non- Catholic American 
is less successful, for, he does not use the 
means to the end, the very thing which 
makes him so successful in all things else, 
and consequently the Church is not un- 
frequently judged and condemned for 
what she is not. 

Now, let us see why a great people, 
with so high sense of honor in all things^ 



4 THE MASS. 

can do this. The very opening sentences- 
give cogent reasons. Knowledge of Cath- 
olic doctrine is sought and obtained from 
doubtful, yea corrupting sources; a prac- 
tice which is as un-American as it is un- 
reasonable. Obvious reasons suggest 
that the merchant is successful, because 
he goes and studies and becomes practi- 
cally acquainted with the details of the 
business in which he is about to embark. 
The banker does not go to learn finance 
in the lawyer's or the doctor's office; 
neither will the lawyer or doctor go to 
the banker to study law or medicine. 
The journalist wants information on a 
certain subject, he goes and sees with his 
own; eyes, and speaks with those who are 
most conversant, reliable and veracious. 
The business man will not trust market 
reports or letters, but goes perhaps hun- 
dreds of miles away and meets the seller 
face to face in the public mart. The sick 
man will not be satisfied when told one 
school of medicine (the Allopathic), holds 
opposites cure; another (the Homeopath- 
ic), that like cures like; another (the Ec- 



THE MASS. 5 

lectic), vegetable, and not mineral, cures; 
and yet another (the Regular), anything 
that effects a cure may be used. No, he 
wants no hearsay; he wants the medicine 
that will cure, and not the cant of the 
disciple of the Allopathic against the 
Homeopathic, or that of the Homeopath- 
ic against the Eclectic, or that of the Ec- 
lectic against the Regular school of med- 
icine. As he is thoroughly in earnest^ 
he makes his selection between school 
and school, sends for the representative 
of the one of his choice, learns the diag- 
nosis of his case, accepts it as true and 
takes his medicine. The man who is in- 
terested in knowing a foreign country is 
not satisfied with a description by its en- 
emies, not even with the best letters of 
travel and the histories; he goes there and 
resides among its people. Even after a 
time, he considers how unreal his first im- 
pressions had been regarding their man- 
ners and customs. He is now convinced 
that the best writers about a people are 
mere sketchers from impressions, perhaps, 
imperfectly fixed on the mind. If you 



6 THE MASS. 

would have the real thing, if you wish to 
know a people, then, take steam, go live 
in their country, study the ir custom >, min- 
gle in their society, frequent their legisla- 
tive halls, visit their churches, read their 
awn doctrinal books, wr.tten by their own 
doctors and theologians. This is the best 
way to secure a painting from real life — 
one that will be your own individual pro- 
perty — ard one, too, that cannot be du- 
plicated for you. This is the way to know 
a people socially, politically and religious- 
ly. This is the way to <*void the mistake 
cf judging and condemning a people or 
nation, for what they are not. The student 
wishing to become conversant with the 
tenets of the Episcopal church will not 
go to the Methodist or Baptist to learn. 
No, he will betake himself to a well-in- 
formed Episcopalian for information; 
study Episcopalian doctrinal books writ- 
ten by Episcopalians. Now this is a rea- 
sonable course, and precisely the one that 
should be adopted by all earnest truth- 
seekers. Nothing can compensate in lieu 
of a journey to the fountain head; no sub- 



THE MASS. 7 

stitute can take the place of the reality; 
no one can give the \iews of another as 
well as himself. Now, in view of what 
has been said, it is clear that the Catholic 
Church is the best exponent of Catholic 
doctrine. Our non Catholic fellow-citi- 
zens, successful in every walk of life, for 
they act reasonably and in a business- like 
way, as we have seen, are unsuccessful in 
learning what the Church really teaches,, 
because they pursue a different course. 
From texts, sentences and ''chips," de- 
tached from contexts and artfully arrang- 
ed by unscrupulous so-called preachers of 
the gospel, they condemn us for believing 
something, of which we have not even 
dreamt. 

It is on this very account, that the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass is condemned and 
termed ''Romish mummery" and other 
name?, no less opprobrious. With a view 
of disproving this doctrine ;and, making the 
Mass zvhat it is not, thus holding it up to 
the ridicule of their hearers and readers, 
those non-Catholic "divines" follow their 
usual course — using "texts, scraps," etc. 



S THE MASS. 

Let us see how these serve their pur- 
pose. They say that there is nothing in 
the words of Institution, "This is my 
body", to indicate a sacrifice. This is so 
if the adjuncts and context be not taken 
into consideration; for otherwise it would 
be like proving suicide justifiable before 
God; yea, commanded by Him. And the 
mode of quoting Scripture would prove it 
conclusively. For example, it is written 
* 'Judas went out and hanged himself, " 
-"go thou and do likewise." But to return 
to the subject, Christ being really present 
under both Species, there is a representa- 
tion of immolation. In a relative sacri- 
fice, it is not necessary, says Basquez, to 
have a real immolation, because that is al- 
ready done on the Cross. If, however, 
this be doubted, or rejected as false, and 
-consequently untenable, then, we hold 
there is a real immolation in the sacrifice 
of the Mass, in- as-much as Christ is put 
in a perishable state. If we have not the 
word itself "offered," we have the equiva- 
lent "given for ycu," which could not be 
<used rightly were there no question of sac- 






THE MASS. 9 

rifice. Again, "And taking the Chalice 
he gave thanks, and gave to them saying: 
'Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood 
of the New Testament, which shall be 
shed for many unto remission of sins." 
[St. Matt. XXVI, 27, 28.] This is sacri- 
ficial language, for the effusion of blood 
perfects the sacrifice. If there were not a 
sacrifice in the Blessed Eucharist; these 
words would be false. From the usage 
of Sacred Scripture we know that they 
indicate a sacrifice. Besides everything 
necessary for one is here. In short, if it 
be insisted on, there is no (Mactatio,) im- 
molation, we answer that it is either ne- 
cessary, or it is not. If it be not, the re- 
presentation of the death of the victim is 
enough, which we have. If it be necessary, 
we have it because Christ is put in a per- 
ishable state. The history, of sacrifice in 
the Old Law, will throw much light on 
the subject, as well as illustrate what we 
have just said. For example, the wine was 
poured out. [Numb. XXVIII, 14,] This 
was not immolation, neither was the Emis- 
sary Goat killed, but driven to the wilder- 



10 THE MASS. 

ness. [Lev. XVI, 7 — 10. 

Again it is said, that, if in the Mass there 
is a sacrifice this would indicate that the 
Sacrifice of the Cross was imperfect. When 
we claim that the Sacrifice of the Mass is 
a true Sacrifice, and has its end and object, 
it does not follow, by any means, that the 
Sacrifice of the Cross was imperfect. It 
is only when a thing fails in its own prop- 
er end, that it can be said to be imper- 
fect. But the Sacrifice of the Cross did 
not fail in its own proper end, and, hence 
it cannot be said to be imperfect. What 
was the end of the Sacrifice of the Cross? 
It was, as we know from Holy Scripture, 
to atone for sin. It did not, however, ap- 
ply this atonement to each individual, for,, 
if it did, we would ml be saved, which is 
untenable. 

To disprove that in the Mass there is a 
true sacrifice, it is alleged that Melchise- 
dech never offered a sacrifice. This is 
argued from St. Paul's silence about his 
(Melchisedech's) sacrifice in his epistle to 
the Hebrews. St. Paul tells the Hebrews 
a few facts about Melchisedech, and says 



THE MASS. 11 

there were many other sublime things 
which they were not fit to hear then. 
First, he says, he had neither beginnings 
nor end of days. Second, that he was like 
to the Son of God. Third, that he was a 
priest forever. Now, because St. Paul 
mentions these few facts and is silent about 
his Sacrifice, it does not, therefore, follow 
that Melchisedech never offered a sacrifice. 
Evidently, if this did .not eater into the 
scope of the apostle, it is no argument 
against his (Melchisedech's) sacrifice. 
Now, the question arises, did it appertain 
to his scope? What was St. Pual going to 
prove in his epistle to the Hebrews? That 
Christ was superior to Aaron. He was 
addressing the Jewish converts who had a 
high notion of the Jewish religion, and an 
erroneous one of the Christian. They be- 
lieved Christ was a priest, but inferior to 
Aaron. This is what St. Paul had to com- 
bat. Melchisedech was superior to Aaron, 
(i) Because Abraham paid tithes to him, 
which was a sign of superiority. (2) Mel- 
chisedech blessed Abraham, and the lesser 
is blessed by the greater. But Abraham 



12 THE MASS. 

was superior to Aaron according to your- 
selves (the Jewish converts;) therefore, 
Melchisedech was superior to Aaron. The 
mention of sacrifice would not go to prove 
this proposition; on the contrary, it would 
disprove it; hence St. Paul does not men- 
tion it for Aaron's sacrifice was superior 
to bread and wine. 

To convey the idea of what the Mass is 
not, it is alleged that St. Paul says to the 
Hebrews, if Christ were on earth He 
would not continue to be a priest under 
the New Dispensation, so much say those 
who handle "chips" and* "scraps," the 
New Law excludes the idea of sacrifice. 
Now, if the idea of Christ's priesthood be 
so repugnant to the New Dispensation, 
for a greater reason, there can be no oth- 
er. There are, no doubt, priests, but, they 
are not to sacrifice, but to administer 
Sacraments, preach, etc, Now, to sup- 
port this, they say, not only would Christ 
cease to be a priest, but this term is not 
given once in the New Dispensation to 
any person, and, for a good reason, be- 
cause there is no sacrifice in the New 
Law; hence there is no need of a sacrific- 
ing priest. Let us find out the train of 
reasoning the apostle proposed to him- 



THE MASS. 13 

self. It is the same thesis he proposes 
here, as he did about Melchisedech. The 
Hebrews were very ignorant of the truths 
of the Christian religion. Their errors 
followed from the opimon they had of 
the Old Law. They thought there could 
be no prophet greater than Moses. St. 
Paul jefutes this. Then, they thought 
Aaron's priesthood was higher than 
Christ's. The apostle uses this to refute 
their error. In fact, he says, if the priest- 
hood of Christ were inferior or equal to 
Aaron's, an absurdity would follow; Christ 
would not be a priest at all, but you be- 
lieve that he was a priest. There was a 
priesthood a'ready establ^hed to perform 
sacrifices in connection with it. Now, 
would it be prudent for God to abolish 
that; and, establish the same order in its 
plact? For example, what reasonable 
man would take dow r n a house to build it 
up in the same manner? If Christ were 
inferior to Aaron, why would God abolish 
Aaron's priesthood, to establish an inferi- 
or? Therefore, you are forced to conclude 
that Christ's priesthood is superior to 
that of Aaron's. Thus he refuses their 
contention and establishes his own thesis. 
Aaron's priesthood, de facto> is abolished 
on the second grounds given, therefore it 
was to make room for a greater. Hence 



14 THE MASS. 

the meaning of the text is, that if Christ 
were on earth now, in the false position 
you placed him, inferior or equal to 
Aaron, he would not be a priest. Unless 
both St. Paul and the Hebrews admitted- 
Christ was a priest this would be a mean- 
ingless dispute. Hence, so far, from sup- 
porting the position taken, in the begin- 
ning, the text, with the scdpe,oi the apos- 
tle, prove a priesthood and consequently- 
a sacrifice in the New Law. 

Finally, it is contended, that, as the 
sacrifice of the Cross is infinite, there is 
no place for the sacrifice of the Mass. It 
is true the sacrifice of the Cross is infin- 
ite, by reason of satisfying for sin, but by 
reason of applying the fruits of this satis- 
faction, we deny, and, hence, there is suffi- 
cient place for the sacrifice of the Mass, 
to apply the fruit of the sacrifice of the 
Cross. Were it otherwise, that is, were 
it so, that the sacrifice of the Cross not 
only satisfied for sin, but also, this satis- 
faction is applied to each and every one,, 
then, there would be nothing to be done 
on our part: We would be all saved 
without belief in God, the keeping of the 
Commandments or any other duty pre- 
scribed in the New Dispensation; in a. 
word, without any effort on our part. 
What an absurdity! Who will endorse- 






THE MASS. 15 

the conclusion and still call himself a 
christian? The dilemma is here without 
doubt; now, which horn is it more rea- 
sonable to cling to? 

It is alleged, too, that as the Mass is 
said in an unknown tongue, and paid for 
by the hearers, it is merely a scheme to 
keep the people in ignorance and dupe 
them out of their money. In answer to 
the first allegation, we say, that it is a 
cmistake to assert, that the people are kept 
in ignorance of the Mass, as a glance, at 
their prayer books where it is usually ex- 
plained and the prayers translated in the 
vulgar tongue, will prove conclusively; 
and moreover, every child is taught be- 
fore First Communion, the meaning and 
import of every thing pertaining to the 
altar. Nor, is this without precedent, in 
ancient and modern times. The services 
of the Jews were, and are now, in the 
ancient Hebrew tongue. Now, this was 
not known to the common and syna- 
gogue-going people in the time of our 
Lord, nor is it known to this day by the 
-ordinary Jewish worshipper. Millions 
of people, in Asia and Africa, even now, 
follow the same custom of praying in an 
unknown tongue. [Encyclop. of Geog. 
Vol. II.] In another chapter, this object- 
ion is, we think, disposed of to the satis- 



16 THE MASS. 

faction of every honest truth-seeker. It 
has never entered the mind of any well 
informed Catholic, to offer money, for 
the Mass, neither has it ever occurred to 
any priest, to receive money for the Sac- 
rifice, as it is unpurchasable. It is true, 
money is often given when the priest is 
requested to say Mass, but it is made 
merely the occasion — from time immemo- 
rial — to contribute to the support of the 
priest, just, as is the case whtn the sacra- 
ments of Baptism and Matrimony are ad- 
ministered. In fact, the custom of giving 
donatians on such occasion dates back to 
the time of ChrL^t himself, for we read 
that the Blessed Virgin, on presenting the 
child, Jesus, in the Temple, offered what 
the Levitical law prescribed for the poor. 
The Catholic priest never enters the * 
ministry for money, never contracts for 
a certain salary, never says Mass or ad- 
ministers the Sacramen K s for price. True 
to the commission of Christ, he goes to 
preach the gospel with ''neither scrip nor 
purse", depending on the charity of the 
people, who are not unmindful of the 
words addressed to them by the Lord of 
All, ki He, who preaches the gospel, should 
live by the gospel." There never has 
been a nation so barbarous, nor a people 
so uncivilized, that had not their men to 



THE MASS. 17 

attend to things spiritual, however crude 
their notion of things spiritual might have 
been. Today, every people and nation 
have their preachers and divines charged 
with the proper conduct of their respect- 
ive religious functions. The Queen of 
England has her chaplain, the Emperor 
of Germany has his preacher, the Czar of 
Russia has his spiritual adviser and every 
congregation has its pastor. All these 
are paid a certain stipend. Now, do the 
Queen, the Emperor, the Czar or the 
congregation pay their "men of prayer," 
for such they are supposed to be, for the 
value and w T oith of their prayers, or, for 
their time, attention and labor? Those 
who talk the loudest, in support of the 
objection, will admit, that these preachers 
and pastors are paid not ior the length, 
eloquence or worth of their prayers, but 
for the time and labor spent amongst 
their respective charges. But, are the 
time, attention and labor of a Catholic 
priest worth nothing? Now, if a Catho- 
lic engage the priest to say a Mass for his 
intention and pay for .the time and atten- 
tion in carrying out his wishes, surely 
there cannot be anything wrong 
in this. He pays nothing for the Holy 
Sacrifice, which cannot be purchased by 
silver or gold, but for that which all the 



18 THE MASS. 

world, not excepting the so-called "di- 
vines, "themselves must admit, to be worth 
a consideration. 

Within the compass of a larger volume 
than this, it would not be possible, to re- 
view all the objections urged against 
Catholic doctrine in general; and, the Holy- 
Sacrifice of the Mass in particular. What 
has been said, is sufficient to illustrate the 
mode of argument employed to make the 
Mass what it is not, and thus, deceive 
those who are foolish enough to take an 
-exposition of the church's doctrine, from 
the lips and pens of her enemies. Every 
honest truth-seeker can see at a glance, 
how and where, he can be informed regard- 
ing the Sacrifice of the Mass, and all oth- 
er doctrines of the church, as well. Were 
every citizen to act reasonably and Amer- 
ican-like, in relation to the church's doc- 
trine, an unapostolical horde of "divines," 
ex-Romish priests and escaped nuns 
would soon be compelled to observe the 
Eighth Commandment — earn their bread 
honestly, like the other sons of Adam, or 
•quit the country. Then, would we hear no 
more vile slander respecting the laity's 
being blindfolded; "superstitious mum- 
mery to deceive and dupe the unwary," 
young ladies imprisoned in nunneries, 
without hope of escape, or heart in their 



THE MASS. 19 

profession; convents, being arsenals, and 
churches, magazines; and every Catholic 
trained in the manual of arms, and in the 
use of the midnight torch, for the destruc- 
tion of non- Catholics at, a given signal 
from the Pope. The spectres of fraud, 
mistrust, tyranny, and hypocracy would 
vanish like the mist before the rising sun. 
The dread of dungeons, racks, quick-lime, 
burning alive, of the gutters running 
brimful with Protestant blood, shed at 
the hands of Papists, would no longer de- 
prive Morpheus of his votaries. Those 
anti- Catholic nursery stories, school sto- 
ries, club-house stories, drawing-room 
stories, platform and pulpit stories, would 
be replaced by others having foundation 
in fact, and better calculated to improve 
society, generally. Newspapers, maga- 
zines, reviews, pamphlets, novels, ro- 
mances and the so-called literature of 
the day, whose mission, it seems, is to 
disseminate "Popish frauds and intrigues," 
would meet a warm reception. The same 
fate would await those "choice" selec- 
tions of poetry, of history, of books of 
travels, of prophecies, of polemic dis- 
courses and of tracts, which only serve 
to sow the seeds of discord between 
neighbors; and rob the christian world of 
charity. It is the duty of us all, to love 



20 THE MASS. 

our neighbors much, our country more, 
and the things, which fit us for heaven, 
most. Knowledge; and. not calumny, is 
necessary to enkindle charity's flame in 
the human heart, for we cannot love a 
thing without first knowing it. This be- 
ing tne case, and in view of the end and 
object of our being, it is our duty, to know 
the ways and means God has ordained to 
apply the saving Blood of Jesus Christ to 
us, to create virtue in the soul, and, to en- 
kindle therein charity, which is the dis- 
tinctive virtue of the faithful on earth, 
and, the saints aud angels in heaven. To 
bring about these happy results, there is 
no means belter, more sublime and God- 
like, than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 
The more we know it the more we appre- 
ciate the goodness and mercy of the Sav- 
iour; the more we know it, the more we 
love that Sacred Heart, that amiable 
tongue and that merciful hand which con- 
ceived, instituted and offered the first 
Mass. Instead, then, of dwelling further 
on misrepresentations of the Mass — on 
What it is not — let us see What it is, as 
well as, review those things that have re- 
lation to it. 



THE MASS. 21 



<2§<tjfer 2. 



SCt£T}ftC-C* As it would be foreign 
to our design, in issuing 
this little pamphlet, to ent erinto any dis- 
sertation regarding the definition of Sac- 
rifice, the following will be found short, 
•exact, theological and well suited to the 
scope of the present chapter: sacrifice 
is an external oblation of a sensible thing, 
made to God alone, by a legitimate min- 
ister, to acknowledge His supreme domin- 
ion, the oblation being accompanied with 
the destruction or, at least, the change 
of the thing offered. To be acceptable 
to God, then, the thing, itself, must be apt; 
there must be an act by, which the thing 
offered is destroyed or changed, called 
immolation; there must be a legitimate 
end to the Sacrifice offered God; there 
must be the legitimate man to perform the 
act. Associated, then, with the idea of 
Sacrifice, are an altar, a victim, an immola- 
tion, an object or end and a priest. There 
is no historical fact more clearly establish- 



22 THE MASS. 

ed than, that, men offered God sacrifice 
from the very twilight of ages. We learn 
that the sons of Adam, Cain and Abel, 
offered, in sacrifice to God, the fruits of 
the earth and the firstlings of the flock.. 
[Gen. IV, 3 et seqj. Noah, in thanksgiv- 
ing for his safe delivery and that of his 
family from the destroying waters of the 
deluge, built an altar and offered thereon 
holocausts. [Gen. VIII, 20]. Melchisedech,. 
as priest of the Most High God, offered 
bread and wine in sacrifice. [Gen. XIV, 
18]. Abraham, the Father of the Faith- 
ful, raises his hand to sacrifice his own 
son Isaac and God accepts his obedience; 
and, substitutes another victim. Nations 
and peoples, that had long lost sight of 
the one true God and were wont to wor- 
ship idols, offered sacrifice. The altar is 
found among things that remain of the 
Druid priesthood of Northern Europe. In 
many parts of Europe, there are to be 
found fragments of the altars whereon 
the Frank and the Saxon immolated their 
victims. The Egyptian altars were laden 
with victims of Isis and Osiris. The altars 



THE MASS. 2 



Q 



of Greece and Rome smoked with sacrifice 
offered to a Jupiter, a Mars, a Venus, an 
Appolo, a Zeus and to hundreds of other 
divinities. On the banks of the far-off 
Euphrates and the fertile plains of the 
Tigris, in populous Babylon and wealthy 
Assyria, among tribes without a written 
language and people without culture or 
civilization, beautiful altars and magnifi- 
cent temples arose where sacrifices were 
offered and where devotees assembled to 
pray to their deities. 

All the tribes and peoples ^nd nations 
had their altars, their priests and their 
sacrifices. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, 
Herodotus, Hesiod us, in fact all writers of 
antiquity testify to this. Plutarch says: "If 
you traveled the earth you may find cities 
without walls, books, laws, houses, coin, 
schools and churches; but a city without 
temples and gods which they address with 
prayers and vows, to which they offer sac- 
rifice for benefits received or evils turned 
away, and by rites and ceremonies, no 
one ever saw." From one end of the earth 
to the other, all nations, civilized as well 






21 THE MASS. 

as barbarous, had retained the idea of 
sacrifice to the Divinity, corrupted to be 
sure, yet still containing a trace of that 
germ of truth which it pleased God to 
communicate in the Garden of Paradise. 
For, were it otherwise, how account for 
the existence of sacrifice at all times and 
among all people? The Creator, no doubt, 
implanted in every human breast a con- 
viction of the necessity of sacrifice, which 
time or place or circumstance, has never 
been able to eradicate. It was, however, 
after the deliverance of his people from 
the bondage of Egypt; and, setting them 
up as his chosen nation, that God posi- 
tively prescribed sacrifice. A particular 
tribe is selected, that of Levi, and a cer- 
tain family is chosen, that of Aaron, to 
minister at the altar. The different sac- 
rifices, the holocaust, the peace offering, 
the sin offering and the impetratory offer- 
ing are all ordained and described min- 
utely; as also the ritual, the liturgy, the 
altar, the victims and the priests. [Levi- 
ticus.] 

The biblical student cannot fail to note 



THE MASS. 25 

that even in the Mosaical dispensation, 
everything pertaining to the Tabernacle 
and Temple was but the type and figure 
of something more perfect which was 
then to come. Who can read of little 
Isaac, faint and weary, bending under the 
wood which was to comsume the victim, 
without a serious thought on the Heavenly 
Victim, of a future age? Who can listen 
to the conversation between Isaac and 
his father Abraham, as they ascend Mount 
Moriah, without thinking of Calvary? The 
father has the fire and the sword and pre- 
pares the altar, but Isaac in wonder, asks, 
"Where is the victim for the holocaust?" 
[Gen. XXII, 7.] Every altar,every stone of 
the temple, every victim, every offering, 
every priest and everyone that assem- 
bled for sacrifice, Jew as well as Gentile, 
from Abel to Zachary and from the twi- 
light of ages until the eating of the Pasch 
for the last time, in the Cenicle, cried out, 
"Where is the victim for the holocaust?" 
From the very cradle of the human fam- 
ily, the Lord answered those, who hark- 
ened to his voice, as Abraham answered 



26 THE MASS. 

Isaac, on the hill top of Moriah, "God will 
provide Himself a victim for a holocaust, 
my son." When that Star of Bethlehem 
arose, on a Judean morn, and lit up the 
earth with a heavenly resplendant light, 
and attracted by its effulgence the shep- 
herds: in response, to the Infintile voice 
of the Incarnate Word, "Sacrifice and 
oblation Thou wouldest not, but a body 
hast Thou fitted to me. Holocaust for sin 
did not please Thee; then said I, Behold, 
I come." [Heb.X, 5], the angels of Heav- 
en burst forth in that beautiful canticle, 
"Glory to God in the highest and on earth 
peace to men of good will," resounded 
through the blue vault of heaven, piercing 
the azure sky, chanted again and again 
by myriads of celestial voices, in the hear 
ing of every son of Adam disposed to 
listen. Now the mystery is unravelled, 
the prophesies are fulfilled, the oblation 
prefigured in the sacrifices of the Jewish 
Law and so plainly pre-announced by the 
prophet Malachias, is no other but the 
Unbloody Sacrifice of the New Law, 
wherein Christ Himself is really present 



THE MASS. 27 

and offered for the living and the dead. 
Yet, against the doctrine of the Mass, so 
plainly foretold by the prophet, so strik- 
ingly prefigured by the sacrifices of old 
and so clearly taught by Christ and his 
Apostles; yes, against, even the concurring 
testimony of all ages and nations from the 
beginning of Christianity, we hear the 
loud and boastful voice of so-called Chris- 
tians declaring that the Sacrifice of the 
New Law is not a true and proper sacri- 
fice offered to God. 

MASS — A glance, however, at the fol- 
lowing canons of Trent will show what 
the Church, the Pillar and Ground of 
truth, believes and teaches and what is 
well-founded on revelation and tradition, 
as we shall see in the sequel: 

CANON I. — "If any one saith that in 
the Mass a true and proper sacrifice is not 
offered to God; or that to be offered is 
nothing else but that Christ is given us to 
eat; let him be anathema." 

CANON II. — "If any one saith, that by 
those words, Do this for the commemora- 
tion of me, [Luke XXII, 19.] Christ 



28 THE MASS. 

did not institute the Apostles priests; or, 
did not ordain that they, and other priests, 
should offer His own body and blood; let 
him be anathema." 

Canon III. — "If any one saith, that the 
sacrifice of the Mass is only a sacrifice of 
praise and of thanksgiving, or, that it is 
a bare commemoration of the sacrifice 
consummated on the cross, but not a pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice, or that it profits him 
only who receives; and that it ought not 
to be offered for the living and the dead 
for sins, pains, satisfactions, and other ne- 
cessities; let him be anathema." 

CANON IV. — "If any one saith that, by 
the sacrifice of the Mass, a blasphemy is. 
cast on the most holy sacrifice of Christ 
consummated on the cross; or that it is 
thereby derogated from; let him be anath- 
ema." [Council of Trent, Ses. XXIII.] 

Malachias 5 whose name signifies the An- 
gel of the Lord, and who was the last of 
the prophets, flourishing about four hun- 
dred years before Christ, foretells the rep- 
robation of the Jews and their sacrifices, 
and the calling of the Gentiles who shall 






THE MASS. 2£ 

offer up to God in every place an accept- 
able sacrifice, in these words: "I have no 
pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, 
and I will not receive a gift of your hand. 
For from the rising of the sun even to the 
going down, my name is great amongthe 
Gentiles, and in everyplace there is a sac- 
rifice and there is offered to my name a 
clean oblation; for my name is great 
among the Gentiles; saith the Lord of 
Hosts." [Mai. I, 10 et seq.] According 
to the above prophecy, of the coming of 
the Messias, a new and true sacrifice must 
be instituted, instead of the sacrifices of 
the Old Law, but the Massias has already 
come; therefore in the New Law there is 
a new and true sacrifice. Now, this sac- 
rifice must be either the sacrifice of the- 
Cross, or of good works, or of the Mass; 
but it cannot be the first or the sec- 
ond, therefore it is the third, the Mass. 
It cannot be the first, for this new sacri- 
fice was to be offered in every place from 
"the rising of the sun even to the going 
down;" whereas the sacrifice of the cross 
was offered only in one place in the land 



30 THE MASS. 

of Judea. It cannot be the second, for the 
sacrifice foretold was to be a new sacri- 
fice. But the sacrifice of good works was 
from the very beginning. Hence, it must 
Ibe the Mass, and consequently in the 
!Mass is offered to God a true sacrifice. 

"In that day there shall be an altar of 
the Lord in the midst of the land of 
Egypt," [Isias XIX, 19.], and speaking of 
the nations, the same Evangelical prophet 
■.■says: "I will take of them to be priests and 
Levites, saith the Lord." [Isias LXVI,2i.J 
This prophecy must regard the Christian 
altar and the Christian priesthood; and 
consequently, the Christian sacrifice for 
the altar could not mean the altar of the 
temple, since the Israelites had no altar till 
they came into the desert on their jour- 
ney from Egypt, years before the prophet 
flourished; nor could it relate to the altar 
or sacrifice of the Jews, because they were 
commanded to sacrifice only in the Taber- 
nacle and Temple. The selection of the 
priests could mean neither the Jewish nor 
the Gentile priests, for the Jewish were 
to be of the tribe of Levi and of the house 



THE MASS. . 31 

of Aaron; while the priests of the Gentiles 
could not be chosen, as their offerings 
v/ere not, "clean," nor, for obvious reas- 
ons acceptable to the Lord. Finally, re- 
ference could not be made to sacrifices 
of prayer, aspiration or suffering, for all 
these existed from the beginning and 
were always acceptable to God, as we 
have seen. It follows, then, that reference 
is made to the altar, to the priest and to 
the sacrifice of the Christian Dispensation. 
Yes, looking through the mists of ages 
the prophetic eye saw the sacrifice of the 
Mass, offered on every hill and in every 
valley, from one end of the earth to the 
other. 

St. Paul writes: "Thou (Christ) art a 
priest forever, according to the order of 
Melchisedech." [Heb. VII, 17.] Melchis- 
edech offered a true sacrifice in bread 
and wine, for the Hebrew word "Proferns" 
is the same, by reason of the subject mat- 
ter, and, the biblical use as the Latin "Of- 
ferns", which implies a sacrificial action, 
and consequently, clearly conveys that 
Melchisedech offered bread and wine be- 



32 



THE MASS. 



cause he was a priest, and hence his duty, 
as such, was to offer sacrifice. But Christ is 
a priest, according to the rite of Melchis- 
edech: "Thou art a priest forever, accord- 
ing to the order of Melchisedech," the 
order meaning the rite or mode of offer- 
ing sacrifice. Therefore Christ offered a 
true sacrifice in bread and wine, at the 
last supper. 

"And taking bread, he gave thanks, 
and brake, and gave to them, saying: This 
is my body which is given for you. Do 
this for a commemoration of me." [Luke 
XXII, 19.] Here Christ, instituting the 
Eucharist, offers God the Father, a true 
sacrifice, under the species of bread and 
wine, for there is no other reason why he 
is a priest according to the order of 
Melchisedech; but the Mass is the same 
sacrificial act as Christ did at the Last 
Supper, as is plain, from his own words to 
the apostles, "Do this for a commemora- 
tion of me." Therefore in the Mass, is of- 
fered a true sacrifice to God. 

To give his converts a due apprecia- 
tion of the Sacrifice of the New Law and 



THE MAS 3. 33 

to estrange them from idolatry, St. Paul 
says: "Are not they that eat of the sacri- 
fices partakers of the altar? "* * *■ But the 
things which the heathens sacrifice, they 
sacrifice to devils and not to God. And 
I would not that you should be made 
partakers with devils. You cannot drink 
the chalice of the Lord and the chal- 
ice of devils. You cannot be partakers 
-of the table of the Lord and the table 
of devils." And again, "We have an altar 
whereof they have no power to eat who 
serve the Tabernacle." [I Cor. X, 18 
et seq. — Heb. XIII, 10.] Here St. Paul 
compares the sacrifice offered to God and 
those offered to the devils; but this he 
could not do for a very good reason, had 
not the early Christians a sacrifice. The 
early Christians had an altar, according to 
the apostle of the Gentiles, but where 
there is an altar there- is a sacrifice; in fact 
it is an altar because sacrifice is offered 
on it. Therefore the apostle very plain- 
ly teaches what existed in the apostolic 
•age, a sacrifice, an altar; and, consequent- 
ly, a priesthood. 



34 THE MASS. 

From the foregoing, it is hard to see, 
how any one, who believes in Revelation, 
can deny that in the New Dispensation 
there was instituted a true sacrifice; but 
this is the sacrifice of the Mass, conse- 
quently in the Mass, is offered a true sac- 
rifice. As the Paschal Lamb was a true 
sacrifice, so also the Last Supper must be a 
true sacrifice; for at that time, Christ made 
a new alliance, a New Testament, like 
the Old, and, like it, it should be sanction- 
ed by sacrifice and by blood. As Moses, 
when sprinklng the people with the blood 
of the calves, said: "This is the blood of 
the covenant which the Lord hath made 
with you" [Exod.J, so Christ alludes to 
the words and uses nearly the same in 
establishing the New Covenant, his New 
Testament: "This is my blood of the New 
Testament." [St. Mat. XXVI, 28.] To 
sanction his mission, Moses spoke of blood, 
offered in sacrifice; Christ, in whom all 
was to be fulfilled that had been written, 
mentions blood off jred in sacrifice of Him- 
self at the last supper. Moreover, we have 
seen, that a new sacrifice was to take the 
place of oblations and sacrifices of old. 
Now, there can only be question of either 
the sacrifice of the Old Law, or of the 



THE MAS?. 35 

sacrifices of the pagans, or of praise 
or, finally, of the Mass; but there can be 
no question of the first, for these were 
abrogated, nor of the second, for they 
were "unclean," nor of the third, for they 
were not new, existing as they did from 
the beginning. Besides they are not sac- 
rifices strictly and properly speaking; 
therefore there is question only of the 
Ma^, and, hence the Mass is the true sac- 
rifice of the Christian Dispensation. 

Faithful to the trust reposed in them, 
and true to their vocation, the apostles 
and disciples were "ministering to the 
Lord and fasting" [Acts XIII, 2.], at An-- 
tioch, when the Holy Ghost spoke to them. 
Ministering, in Greek, signifies offering 
sacrifice, according to the most learned 
writers. [Cor. a Lap. Erasmus, et al.] 
St. Justin says: "In every place sacrifice 
is offered; the bread of the Eucharist and 
the cup of the Eucharist as Malachias 
foretold." [In Dialog, cum. Tryphon 
Judeo.J St. Ireneus speaks as follows: 
"He who among creatures is bread, took 
it * * * saying: This is my body, and 
the Chalice in the same way His Blood." 
[Adv. Haer. XIV.] St Augustine, speak- 
ing of his mother, then, deceased, writes: 
"She desired to be remembered at the 
altar, no day passing without it, where 



36 THE MASS. 

the Holy Victim is dispensed, because 
the Chirograph which was against us was 
taken away." [St. Augustine's Confes- 
sions.] Why multiply authorities? Since 
the monuments and histories of the past, 
the rituals and liturgies of ancient church- 
es, the prayer books and traditions of all 
nations and languages, even those who 
have separated from the Church, from the 
Apostolic age, down to the present time, 
speak of the Unbloody Sacrifice o'^the 
New Law, the Mass. Those who deny 
that the Mass is a true sacrifice, while 
calling themselves Christians, should note, 
that there never has been a religion with- 
out a sacrifice, either in the law of na- 
ture or in the written law; even among 
the pagans, sacrifice was offered; that the 
idea of God, associates with it the idea of 
sacrifice, and, finally, that in case of de- 
nial, it is but fair to ask who instituted 
Mass, if not Christ Himself? The inno- 
vator should be known, as well as, the day 
and date of the innovation. Where does 
history record the one or the other? 
Could such a new doctrine be taught and 
believed in the church were it not heaven- 
sent? Could any power on earth force 
people to believe, that in the Mass, there 
is a divinely instituted sacrifice, had not 
Christ and his apostles taught it? 



THE MASS. 37 




MCt£r#* The most learned writers 
do not agree as to the origin 
of the word Mass. Some deem it a deriva" 
tive from the Hebrew word Massah which 
means a debt; others claim it orignated 
from the Greek word Myesis, initiation, 
while others again derive it from Mes or 
Messe which in Northern Europe meant a 
banquet and sometimes, a sacrifice. It ap- 
pears, however, more consonant to come 
from the Latin Missa or Missio referring to 
a custom in vogue during the first five cen- 
turies of sending away those under instruc- 
tion before the most solemn part of the 
Mass, the Consecration. From this dis- 
missal (in Latin, Missa) and a second that 
followed after the Divine Sacrifice, the 
Latin word Missa or the English Mass 
lias its origin, according to the most num- 
erous and most learned liturgical writers. 
According to circumstances, ceremo- 
nies, the place and the particular object 
ior which it is offered, different names have 



38 THE MASS. 

been used to qualify it, viz: Low Mass, 
High Mass, Pontifical High Mass, Conven- 
tual Mass, Nuptial Mass, Golden Mass, Pri- 
vate Mass, Solitary Mass, Votive Mass,. 
Midnight Mass, Mass of the Presancitified 
and Mass of Requiem. 

Low MASS — Is so called on account of 
its being said by a single priest in a low 
tone of voice. 

Solemn High Mass — When the Mass 
is chanted with deacon, sub-deacon and 
other ministers it is called Solemn High 
Mass. When, however, there is neither 
deacon or sub-deacon in attendance a Mass 
of this kind is called Missa Cantata or 
Sung Mass. 

Pontifical High Mass — Is sung by a 
bishop with his ministers in attendance. 
If, however, the bishop merely occupies 
his throne this Mass is called Solemn 
High Mass, coram Pontifice. 

Conventual Mass — Is that Mass 
which rectors and canons of Cathedrals 
are obliged to say daily. This Mass 
is of obligation in Convents, and rural 
Churches too, where the blessed Sacra- 



THE MASS. 39 

merit is kept, according to some authori- 
ties. [De Herdt, I, 14. 

Nuptial Mass — Is that Mass prescrib- 
ed to be said, on the occasion of solemni- 
zation of matrimony, in behalf of a newly 
manied couple. 

Golden Mass — Was formerly celebra- 
ted on Wednesdays of Advent in honor of 
the Blessed Virgin with all the pomp and 
splendor of the Church's Ceremonial; the 
bishop, his canons and all the religious or- 
ders of the place assisting. 

Private Mass — Is celebrated in some 
private chapel or oratory to which few 
have access and at which the priest only 
communicates. 

Solitary Mass — When Mass is said 
without the attendance of people or the 
assistance of a server it is called Solitary 
Mass. 

Votive Mass— When, instead of the 
Mass of the day, a Mass, to satisfy the pi- 
ous intentions of the priest or a member 
of his congregation, is celebrated, it is 
called Votive Mass. 

Midnight Mass — And Nocturnal 



40 THE MASS. 

Mass, were frequent in the days of perse- 
cution;and later on Midnight Masses were 
prescribed on certain festivals, the only 
one remaining is attached to Christmas. 

Mass of the Presanctified — So call- 
ed because it is celebrated with a Host 
consecrated on a previous occasion as on 
Good Friday — the only day it is permitted 
in the Latin Church. 

Mass of Requiem — Is offered for the 
dead and may be said any day on which 
the rubrics permit. It is a pious custom 
to say such Masses; first, when the person 
dies; secondly, on the third day in memory 
of our Lord's Resurrection after three 
days; thirdly, on the seventh day in mem- 
ory of the mourning of the Israelites sev- 
en days for Joseph, [Gen. I, i o]; fourthly, 
on the thirtieth day in memory of Moses 
and Aaron, for whom the Israelites la- 
mented for thirty days, [Numb, xxj, and 
finally at the end of a year, the anniver- 
sary Mass. 



THE MASS. 41 



€§<i}3f<r 4. 



T atXQtxagz Of The fact that the 
I 6) tl|e Jf$tct00* Mass is celebrated in 
a language unknown: to the people is a 
subject of astonishment to many non- 
Catholics, who do not know the reasons,, 
and who imagine it is without precedent 
in ancient or modern times. At the time 
of our Lord the Roman soldiers had car- 
ried the Eagle in triumph from Gibraltar 
to India and from the Great Desert to the 
fastnesses of the bleak North. Every- 
where a conquered people were obliged 
to adopt the language of the conquerers, 
until the whole civilized world became so- 
Latinized that they admired the beautiful 
verses of a Virgil and a Horace, the past 
mirrored in purest language by a Tacitus 
and a Caesar, the inimitable orations and 
works of a Cicero and a Quintillian. The 
most gifted poets, the most learned phi- 
losophers, the most profound scholars, the 
most wise statesmen and the most bril- 
liant orators of the civilized world had 



42 THE MASS. 

worked to make the Latin tongue the 
sweetest and the most beautiful of the lan- 
guages of men. Now, as God demands the 
first and the best, is it any wonder that the 
Church adopts the Latin language in His 
praises? The very fact of retaining this 
language in our liturgy is a reminder to all 
men of the Church's antiquity. Yes, the 
soldiers that apprehended Christ spoke 
the Latin tongue; the language in which 
He was tried and condemned in Pilate's 
Hall was Latin; the inscription on the 
cross was Latin; the guards that watched 
around the dying Christ spoke Latin; the 
soldiers who guarded the tomb spoke the 
same language; the apostles wrote it; the 
martyrs received their death sentence in 
it; the disciples preached in Latin and ev- 
ery civilized nation understood it. The 
Church, then, retains the Latin, if for no 
other purpose, to tell the people of the 
earth, that she alone, of all the so-called 
churches, came down from Christ and his 
apostles. 

It is a well known fact that every living 
or spoken language changes. In the lapse 



THE MASS. 43. 

of time words lose their meaning, in some 
cases conveying even the very opposite. 
The language of a Virgil, a Cicero and a 
Caesar has become the Italian; that of the 
Patriarchs and Prophets, at the time of our 
Lord, had become Syro-Chaldaic, and the 
English of the fifteenth century, as can be 
seen by translations of the Bible of that 
time, is no longer the English of to-day. 
Words are like so many vessels, says a 
certain writer, which hold the ideas, the 
thoughts and the doctrines. This being* 
so, while the words remain the same, the 
ideas and doctrines will not change. 
When the words change the doctrines 
change and will soon be lost. But the 
truths and doctrines left by Christ and his 
apostles cannot change, and hence, the ne- 
cessity on the part of the Church of se- 
lecting a language that does not or cannot 
change; for the Latin is a dead language, 
consequently the writings and orations of 
Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, Caesar, Cicero 
and Quintillian are the same to-day as 
they were when written by those great 
geniuses of ancient Rome; and, for pre- 



44 THE MASS. 

cisely the same reason, the truths taught 
by our Lord and his apostles are the 
same to-day as when preached in Judea's 
favored land. 

The mission of the Church is to teach 
all peoples and nations. To fulfill this 
mission, it is but meet that she adopt one 
language. Were it otherwise, she would 
be divided into as many religions as there 
•would be nations, each having a national 
church, instead of the Church of the Liv- 
ing God, as is the case in Russia and Eng- 
land. The Church by adopting one lan- 
guage was to repair, in a measure, that di- 
vision of tongues and separation of na- 
tions wrought at Babel, by bringing back 
and uniting the peoples of the earth from 
the rising to the setting of the sun, in one 
tongue and one religion, so that there 
might be but one fold and one Shepherd, 
as there is but one race (that of Adam) on 
earth and one God in heaven. 

The Church is composed of people 
speaking a diversity of tongues, nearly 
three thousand languages and dialects, and 
yet there is one tongue in which we can 



THE MASS. 45 

address the Father of the faithful. The 
language of the people may differ, and they 
may not understand each other, but there 
is one language which unites all together, 
and to Rome itself, and this is the Latin, 
The clergy may differ in character, lan- 
guage and custom, one may be brought up 
in far-off China or distant India, another 
may claim as his native land vine-clad 
France, or sunny Spain, yet, come from 
whatever land on the face of the earth 
they may, can understand each other and 
can discuss intelligently in the same 
tongue, as all received their education in 
Latin. The child of the Church may go 
to whatever land he may, the language of 
the Church is the same, as are also the ser- 
vices — the self same as he saw at home 
in his childhood days. Latin has enrich- 
ed many languages. It is said that half 
the English, two-thirds of the French, 
three-fourths of the Spanish and nearly all 
of the Italian words are of Latin origin. 
Latin is the most widely spread and best 
known language in the world. The stu- 
dents of all universities, the world over, 



46 THE MASS. 

know it; the professors of colleges kxiow 
it; the learned in every land know it; Sir 
Isaac Newton, John Milton, Leibnitz, Des- 
cartes, Mallebranche, Kent, Bacon, Locke, 
spoke, wrote and sung in Latin. His- 
tories, as well as law books, and philoso- 
phies, as well as medical books, contain 
quotations in it. The doctor, the scien- 
tist, the botanist, the inventor, in fact, the 
learned of every age and country are not 
unacquainted with it. Latin is the lan- 
guage of the learned the world over, and 1 * 
is it to be wondered at, that the Church,, 
the mother of learning, the teacher of the- 
arts and sciences and the civilizer and 1 
christianizer of every nation should adopt,, 
cultivate and preserve it> As French is> 
the language of diplomacy, English the- 
language of commerce, so Latin is the* 
language of learning and religion. There 1 
was a time when the Goths, the Visigoths,, 
the Huns, the Vandals and other bar- 
barian tribes, without a written language,, 
without civilization and without religion,, 
swept down from the fastnesses of the* 
North to destroy every vestige ol boasted! 






THE MASS. 47 

Rome. Nothing could resist them; on- 
ward they marched in their countless 
thousands leaving destruction and devas- 
tation in their wake. The fairest prov- 
inces of the Roman Empire became theirs, 
as also the wealth accrued for centuries. 
No power on earth, save one, could resist 
their savage attacks, and this one met, re- 
sisted and in process of time civilized and 
christianized them. 

From destruction the church preserved 
all that was admirable in literature and 
art of the glorious past, and by means of 
the Latin she brings us face to face with 
her work of nineteen hundred years, with 
her martyrs, with her confessors a* d with 
her doctors, yes! with the very apost es 
themselves. No wonder, then, that she re- 
tains a language that unites the past to 
the present; a tongue that speaks to every 
people under the sun, and a means that 
brings together and unites to Rome over 
250,000,000 souls. At a general council 
the utility of one language, the Latin, is 
apparent. Here the bishops, the pasters of 
the Church, assembled from all parts of 



48 THE MASS. 

the world, men of every language, of dif- 
ferent customs, of different training, ot 
different education, of different manners: 
Tiow could they deliberate without one 
language? It is true, that the Holy Sac- 
rifice of the Mass is offered in nine differ- 
ent languages. In Latin, in all parts of the 
Western Church; in Greek, by the Uniat 
or Melchites of the East; in Syriac, by 
the Maronites and Melchites; in Chaldaic, 
by the countries comprising ancient Chal- 
dea; in Sclavonic, by the Catholics of Is- 
tria, Leburnia and Dalmatia; in Wallach- 
ian, by the Wallachians; in Armenian, by 
the Catholics of Armenia, also Armen- 
ians scattered over Asia Minor, Syria, Pal- 
estine, Turkey, Georgia, Greece, Africa, 
Italy and Russia; in Coptic, by Copts of 
Egypt, Numidia and Arabia; Ethiopic, by 
by the Abyssinians. [O'Brian's History 
of the Mass, page 21]. These languages 
are, however, all dead and unknown to the 
common worshippers. It must be borne 
in mind that Latin is the language of the 
Church and these above mentioned are, 
with one exception, tolerated by the tacj|- 



THE MASS. 49 

consent of the Sovereign Pontiff. 

We could not conclude this chapter bet- 
ter than in the words of a learned writer 
on the subject, [O'Brian's History of the 
Mass, Page 33]. 

"The Catholic Church celebrates in Lat- 
in for a variety of reasons: First, because 
she did so in the beginning, and as she 
never changes her faith, she has never 
deemed it advisable to change her lan- 
guage. If her sacred language changed 
with those that are changing around her, 
there would be no end to the confusion 
that would result and much disedification 
would unavoidably be given by using 
words and phrases in the hearing of the 
people to which the grossest meanings are 
sometimes attached. Secondly, as order is 
heaven's first law, uniformity seems to be 
the first law of the Church, for which rea- 
son she makes it her endeaver to have her 
greatest charge, the due and respectful 
celebration of the adorable Sacrifice of 
the Altar, conducted with the same cere- 
monies and said in the same language 
everywhere. This she could not do un- 



50 THE MASS. 

less she had fixed on a common language;. 
Thirdly, unity in respect to language goes^ 
a very great way in preserving unity of be- 
lief. A writer of high repute [Porubszky 
Jure Suo Ecclesiast, P. 854,] declares as 
his firm conviction that the various 
churches of the East which have severed 1 
their connections with the centre of unity, 
Rome, would hardly ever have done 
so had they been required from the begin- 
ning to make Latin their liturgical lan- 
guage. National languages always pave 
the way for national churches Fourth- 
ly, by preserving the Latin in her liturgy 
and requiring her ministers to cultivate it r 
the Catholic Church has secured for her- 
self the accumulated literary treasures of 
eighteen centuries of Christianity. By 
this she has free access to the writings of 
some of the most illustrious doctors of 
the Church, to common and civil law, to 
the decrees of ancient councils, and to 
many other documents of value, which 
would have otherwise been totally out of" 
reach. For which reason alone our Holy 
Church should receive the praise of Christ- 



THE MASS. 51 

^endom. Hallam, in his " Middle Ages", 
could not hide the fact that the sole hope 
of literature in these times depended prin- 
cipally on the Catholic Church, for wher- 
ever it existed the Latin language was 
^preserved. 






52 THE MASS. 



€fjapto 5. 



V$&tnX2ttt&+ We are spiritual and 
corporal and hence our 
religion must be spiritual and corporal. 
By means of the five senses we are moved 
and therefore the wisdom of prescribing 
sacred Vestments which speak to the soul 
of a Man God's love, a Man God's suffer- 
ing and a Man God's death for every child 
of Adam. It is but natural that the 
Church clothe her ministers in certain dis- 
tinctive vestments to show their state and 
dignity. The world acknowledges the 
propriety of clothing the soldier on the 
field, the servant in the employment of his 
master, the solicitor at the bar, the judge 
on the bench and the king on his throne, 
in certain robes indicative of their state 
and authority. Of old, God himself com- 
manded Moses to clothe Aaron and his 
sons in vestments in order that the peo- 
ple seeing their robes might be reminded 
ofGod's Covenant and thus keep them 
from idolatry and in the true faith of Je- 



THE MASS. 53 

Hovah. Some, little conversant with Holy 
Writ, deny that vestments have apostolic 
origin, notwithstanding the words of the 
beloved Apostle. [John XIII, 4 and 12.] 
Not having altar, priest or sacrifice them- 
selves, our Protestant friends who occa- 
sionlly attend Catholic Churches, are lost 
in astonishment at the unique vestments 
used at the altar. This is not to be won- 
dered at, however, as they know little and 
care less, perhaps, of their history and 
significance. Were all the children of the 
Church conversant with the significance 
of the robes with which the priest is cloth- 
ed at the altar, no little benefit would ac- 
crue to themselves and much might be 
done in dispelling the ignorance of non- 
Catholics who may be otherwise well dis- 
posed. The Vestments prescribed to be 
worn during the celebration of the Mass 
are six: the Amice, Alb, Cincture, Maniple, 
Stole and Chasuble. The Amice, derived 
from a Latin word which means to clothe 
or cover, is a rectangular peice of linen 
resembling a handkerchief or white veil, 
with which the neck and throat are cov- 



54 THE MASS. 

cred. The Amice was used to cover the 
head as well as the neck until about the 
tenth century. [BouvryExp. Rubr. Volil, 
216.] The Amice has a variety of mean- 
ings; First, it denotes the veil with which 
the executioners covered the sacred face of 
Jesus while they mocked him; Second, it 
teaches the importance of hope and con- 
fidence in God which are the shields of 
salvation; [1 Thess. V. 8]; Third, it re- 
minds us of the necessity of custody of the 
tongue. [Pontifical and Missal]. The sec- 
ond vestment with which the priest is 
clothed is called the Alb, so called from 
its white color. It is a garment made of 
linen, fastened at the neck by means of 
strings and reaches the feet of the wearer. 
The use of a vestment of this kind has not 
been unknown to the religious world from 
the very beginning. It is not unlike the 
linen garment worn by the priests of the 
Old Law, [Exod. XXVIII; Levit. VIII], 
nor that used by King David when re- 
moving the Ark from the house of Obe- 
dedom to Jerusalem. [1 Paral. XV]. First, 
the Alb signifies the white robe with 



THE MASS. 55 

which Christ was clothed; Second, the in- 
nocence of the Immaculate Lamb of God 
who takes away the sins of the world; 
the great purity of soul which is acquired 
by the reception of the Lamb of God at the 
Banouet of his love. The third in the cat- 
alogue is called the Cincture. It is a linen 
cord of such a length when doubled that 
it encircles the body, thus binding the Alb 
properly. 

The Cincture is of as high an- 
tiquity as the Alb which it always accom- 
panies; its chief, in fact its only office, being 
to keep that garment in its proper place on 
the person of the wearer. [O'Brien's His- 
tory of the Mass.] The prophet says, ''Just- 
ice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith 
the girdle of his reins.' 1 ' [IsaiasXI, 5]. And 
St. John says "In the midst of the seven- 
golden candlesticks one like unto the Son 
of Man clothed with a garment down to 
the feet and girt about the paps with a 
golden girdle." [Apoc. 1,1 3.] The Cincture 
signifies, First, the cords with which the 
sacred body of our Lord w-as bound; Sec- 
ond, it denotes the mortification of the 



56 THE MASS. 

flesh and its vices; Third, it suggests the 
necessity of the virtue of chastity. 

The Maniple is a strip of cloth of the 
same material and color as the Chasuble 
aad about two feet long by four inches in 
breadth, worn on the left wrist. From 
the beginning until the twelfth century the 
Maniple served as a handkerchief ; after- 
wards it became a liturgical ornament. 
[History of the Mass.] The Maniple signi- 
fies the chains with which they bound the 
arms of Christ; Second, it brings to mind 
that penitential tears will be wiped away 
in Heaven; Third, it signifies that the la- 
bors perfomed in the service of God are 
productive of fruit. 

The Stole is of the same material and 
color and width as the Maniple, is about 
six feet long and is worn around the neck, 
and crossed on the breast and kept in po- 
sition by the Cincture. Cardinal Bona, 
Durand and other liturgical writers claim 
for the Stole the same high antiquity as 
the other vestments. [Dur. Rationale Div. 
i, III, C. 5 N 6]. First, the Stole recalls to 
our minds the cords with which the neck 



THE MASS. 57 

of our Lord was bound ; Second, it signifies 
the yoke of the Lord laid on the ministers 
of the altar; Third, it denotes the nuptial 
garb of grace and the clothing of immor- 
tality and glory in the Heavenly Jerusalem. 
The Chasuble, the last in the catalogue 
of Sacred Vestments, is open at both sides 
and, as it rests on the celebrant, reaches 
down in front to about the knees, and a few 
inches further behind; its material is of 
precious cloth and its color one of the five 
prescribed by the rubrics. In the begin- 
ning, and in fact to this day, in many east- 
ern churches, the Chasuble was, as the 
name implies (Casu/a, a little house,) a gar- 
ment covering the whole person. Cardinal 
Bona mentions that St. Peter's Chasuble 
was conveyed from Antioch to the church 
of St. Genevieve at Paris where it was 
carefully preserved. [Rer. Liturg; P. 206.] 
First, the Chasuble denotes the purple 
garment with which Christ was clothed in 
the court of Pilate; Second, it signifies the 
sweet yoke of Christ, the cross, the patience 
and the law ; Third, it is worn over all 
the other vestments to denote that charity, 



53 THE MASS. 

which it represents, is above all virtues, and 
it hangs down behind and before, for char- 
ity is of two kinds; "Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God * * * Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thy self * * * On these two 
commandments dependeth the whole Law 
and the Prophets." [St. Matt. XXII 37, 

Concerning the reference of each of the 
Sacred Vestments to Jesus Christ, the re- 
marks of Garantus may not be out of 
place: (1) The Amice is the veil which 
covered the face of our Lord; (2) the Alb, 
the vesture he was clothed in by Herod; 
(3)the Cincture, the scourge ordered by Pi- 
late; (4) the Maniple, the rope by which he 
was led; (5) the Stole, the rope which fast- 
ened him to the pillar; (6) the Chasuble,, 
the purple garment worn before Pilate. 
[Thesaur. Sacr. Rit., p. 137. 

In conclusion, a word on the color of the 
Vestments may be opportune. 

The Vestments worn by the priest are 
of five colors: white, black, red, green and 
violet. These are of ancient origin, in fact 
they were the colors of the vestments of 



THE MASS. 59 

the tabernacle for they had white linen, 
purple, scarlet, violet and goat's hair. 
[Exod. XXV, 4, 5.] It has been well said 
by some writer whose name has escaped 
our memorv, as the earth is clothed withlil- 
ies, roses, green herbs, dead branches and 
earth, so the Church clothes her ministers 
with these colors according to the truths 
she washes to teach her children. White 
signifies joy, holiness, innocence and puri- 
ty. For this reason it is used, as a rule, on 
feasts of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, the 
virgins and confessors. Black is the col- 
or of death, and hence black Vestments are 
used on Gocd Friday and at Masses for 
the dead, except at funerals of children who 
die before the a<ie of committing sin, when 

white is used. It may be observed, how- 

«/ 7 

ever, that the color is not an essential part 
of the Mass, the Sacrifice being the same 
in whatever color it is celebrated. Red, 
symbolic of fortitude, is the color proper to 
Penticost and for obvious reasons on the 
feasts of the apostles, martyrs and those 
of our Lord's Passion. Green, the symbol 
of hope, is used as the color of the time from 



60 THE MASS. 

the Octave of the Epiphany to Septuages- 
ima Sunday and from the Octave of Pen- 
ticost to Advent. Violet, being the peni- 
tential color, is used in times of fasting, pen- 
ance, public affliction and sorrow. N. B, 
Vestments of gold cloth may be used 
either as white or red. 




THE MASS. 61 



<£§<tpfrr 6. 



G^XXVClj Altar.— The Al- 

£xtVXXXtnV2+ tar is the Sacred 
Table of stone (or at least that part of it on 
which the Oblation rests) sufficiently rais- 
ed above the steps and covered with three 
linen cloths, the outer -of which should 
touch the floor on either side. N. B. (i) 
The altar denotes Christ through whom 
every oblation finds acceptance with God. 
(2)As the altar is the support of the Sac- 
rifice, so Christ is the support of every sac- 
rifice that has ever been or will ever be of- 
fered acceptably to God. (3)It is of stone 
to denote Christ who is called the founda- 
tion stone or rock, [i Cor, x*, 4]. (4)The al- 
tar is in the form of a tomb to remind us of 
the martyrs whose relics are there and who 
laid down their lives for the sake of Christ. 
(5)It is raised high above the floor of the 
Church to remind the faithful of Mount 
Calvary and that their thoughts should be 
elevated above earth to that Mediation 
which is performed between heaven and 



62 THE MASS. 

earth. (6)The altar is covered with three 
white linen cloths symbolical of the purity 
which we should bring to the celebration 
of the Divine Mysteries, purity of intellect, 
heart and hand or purity of thought, word 
and deed. (7)The outer one which touches 
the floor on either side indicates the per- 
fect purity with which the whole man 
should be clothed from head to foot. 

The Crucifix — Indicates that the al- 
tar is another Calvary on which the Christ 
is immolated, though in an unbloody 
manner. N. B. (i)It is placed in a con- 
spicuous position to remind the people 
assembled that their attention and hearts 
should be attracted to it; "I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all things to 
myself." [St. 'john XII, 32.] (2)The 
Crucifix reminds us of the triumph of 
Jesus Christ over sin and death. The 
lighted candles are placed on either side 
of the Crucifix as a sign of honor, joy 
and exultation. (i)They represent Christ 
who came to enkindle the earth with 
divine love. 4 T came to send fire upon 
the earth and what will I but that it be 



THE MASS. 63 

enkindled" [St. Luke XII, 49-] (2) 
They remind us of the light of faith which 
should ever burn in the hearts of the faith- 
ful. (?) The lighted candles remind the 
faithful worshipper of that light ineffable 
which emenates from the great white 
Throne of the heavenly Jerusalem, which 
w r ill be revealed to him if he persevere 
to the end. 

The Missal — Is a large book contain- 
ing all the Masses that are to be said 
throughout the year. N. B. (i)The Mis- 
sal denotes. the Saviour Jesus Christ who 
speaks to us through the Church. (^)It 
is not unlrequently highly embellished, 
sometimes even with gold, silver and 
pearl, symbolical of the gold and gems of 
heavenly wisdom contained in the Word 
of God. 

The Chalice and Pa^en — Are made 
of gold or silver and consecrated by a 
bishop, for they are to contain the Sacred 
Species. The Chalice is the large euchar- 
istic cup into which the wine, to be conse- 
crated, is poured. The Paten is the small 
dish which covers the mouth of the Chal- 






64 THE MASS. 

ice and upon which the large bread,for con- 
secration^ placed. N. B. (i)The Chalice 
and Paten represent the hearts of the faith- 
ful, which are living vessels containing 
heavenly treasures. (2)On account of re- 
spect manifested for all that have immedi- 
ate relations to our Lord these vessels are 
of costly material, consecrated and pious- 
ly preserved to remind the people of the 
great value of the soul redeemed by the 
blood of Jesus Christ, and destined to be 
the abiding place of the Holy Spirit. (3) 
The Chalice is a symbol of the alliance be- 
tween God and man, (4)The Chalice with 
the Paten stand in the center of the al- 
tar covered with a veil, reminding us of the 
veil of faith, the Eucharistic veil, the veil 
which envelopes the Jewish people, the 
incredulous and the sinful man. (5) The- 
Chalice stands on a white linen napkin 
called the Corporal which symbolizes the 
winding sheet which Joseph of Arimathea 
shrouded the Sacred Body of our Lord. 
(6)The Corporal, signifies the purity of 
soul which each one should have to receive 
the Body of the Lord worthily. 



THE MASS. 65 

The Bread and Wine — The bread 
used at the altar must be of purest wheat 
unleavened and in form circular. The 
wine must be the pure juice ot the grape. 
N. B. (i)The use of bread and wine is 
appropriate for the Mass, for as bread 
and wine nourish and support the body- 
so the Eucharistic bread and wine, the Di- 
vine Victim, nourishes and supports the 
soul. (2)They typify the union of the 
faithful amongst themselves and with their 
head, Jesus Christ, for as the bread is made 
from many grains of wheat and the wine 
from many grapes so the mystic body of 
Christ is formed from multitudes. (3) 
They signify the mortiiication which every 
one must indure to be united with Christ, 
for just as wheat, in order to be made bread, 
must be ground in a mill and treated with 
water and heat, in like manner, a faithiul 
soul, to be intimately united with Christ 
and live with His Spirit, must die to him- 
self. (4)This bread is known as the az- 
ymes or the bread made without ferment, 
such as the Lord used at his last supper. 
It indicates the purity of soul which all 



66 THE MASS. 

should acquire and which is obtained only 
through Christ. Leavened bread is not 
used, for leaven denotes vice, concupis- 
cence and the principle of all corruption. 
"Know ye not that a little leaven corrupt- 
eth the whole lump? Purge out the old 
leaven that ye may be a new paste, as 
you are unleavened." [i Cor. V, 6, 7. 

The Host — Is of a circular form be- 
cause the circle is the most perfect of fig- 
ures, and is symbolic of eternity or infinity. 
On this account it is the most appropriate 
figure to represent the presence cf Him 
who is infinite in duration, infinite in im- 
mensity, infinite in love and infinite also 
in the merits of his sacrifice. When the 
wine is poured into the Chalice it is mix- 
ed with a few drops of water. Our Lord 
Himself is believed to have made this mix- 
ture. The mixture of wine and water re- 
minds us in the first place of the open side 
of Christ, whence blood and water issued 
profusely; in the second place it denotes 
the admirable union of the divine and hu- 
man nature which our Lord cemented in 
His Incarnation, and through which we 



THE MASS. 67 

are made partakers of the divinity, a union 
specially effected through the Holy Eu- 
charist, by sanctifying grace and the glory 
of the next life; and in the third place, it 
represents the union of the faithful with 
Christ in one mystical body. [Schouppe, 

Fs. 31-32. 

The Ciborium — Is a vessel much like 
the Chalice but wider in the cup. It is 
kept in the Tabernacle as long as it con- 
tains the Blessed Sacrament and from it 
is administered Holy Communion to the 
faithful. 

The Monstrance — Known by several 
names as the Ostensorium, Portable Tab- 
ernacle and Remonstrance, is a large ves- 
sel highly ornamented and surmounted by 
a cross and surrounded by rays, in the cen- 
ter of which, is placed the Blessed Sacra- 
ment during benediction, exposition and 
processions. In the center is encased the 
Lunette which is the vessel proper for the 
blessed Sacraments, on these occasions, 
above named. N. B. (i)The Monstrance 
reminds us of those little towers of ancient 
times in which the Blessed Sacrament 



68 THE MASS. 

was kept. (2) Its shape, imitating the ra- 
diant sun, recalls our Lord's Transfigura- 
tion on Thabor and the words of the 
Royal Prophet: "He has placed his tab- 
ernacle in the Sun." [Ps. XVIII, 6. 

The Tabernacle — In which Christ 
in the Blessed Sacrament vouchsafes to 
dwell amongst men is that small structure 
in the center of the altar like a church in 
appearance. N. B. (i)The Tabernacle of 
old was a type and figure of the christian 
tabernacle, as it is itself a type and figure 
of the Heavenly Tabernacle. (2)As the 
tabernacle of old was richly ornamented 
and decorated and kept with scrupulous 
exactness so is the tabernacle on our altars 
out of respect for our Lord in the Euchar- 
ist. [3] One light, at least, is constantly 
kept burning before it, in fact, there is 
nothing left undone either within or with- 
out to show respect. 

The Thurable — Is a vessel in which 
incense is burned and offered to God as a 
mark of the greatest respect. N. B. [1] 
Its use dates back to the days of Aaron. 
[2]It is a type or sign of the humanity of 



THE MASS. 09 

our Lord wKerin is hidden the Divinity as 
a consuming fire. [3] The Thurable is a 
symbol of the soul inflamed with divine 
charity. [4] As the smoke ascends heav- 
enward, so ought our thoughts, affec- 
tions and prayers. 

The Pyx — Is a small vessel in which 
the Holy Viaticum is carried privately to 
the sick. N. B. (1) All the Sacred vessels 
containing the Blessed Eucharist are gilt 
inside whenever they are net of gold. (2) 
It is forbidden to everyone except a 
cleric" :< " to touch the Sacred vessels w T hich 
have immediate relation to the Blessed 
Sacrament. 

*The sacred things which come in contact with ^j&e Bless- 
ed Eucharist cannot be touched by anyone below a sub- 
deacon, without committing a sin, even when they are 
empty. No one but a deacon, or one above him in orders, 
can touch the Chalice while containing the Consecrated 
Blood. 



THE MASS. 



€§<t{ito 7. 



Tlj£ %fO*tnve tO b$ As man is 
&&&ttmz& bVL composed of 
tJ?£ faithful ^XXViXig body and soul, 
l$ta##* it is but meet 

that the corporal as well as the spiritual 
nature should unite to do honor to the 
Creator. In fact this is a law written 
deep in the hearts of men. Hence the 
Israelites in their peregrinations, the Jews 
in the Promised Land and the Christians 
from the very earliest period, employed 
certain external signs and ceremonies to 
add to the dignity of worship as well as 
to indicate the import of the mysteries 
of religion. An exact observance of and 
a strict conformity to prescribed cere- 
monies contribute no little to the digni- 
ty of divine worship and to the edifica- 
tion of the faithful. Of all the acts of 
worship the Mass is the most august at 
which man can assist and hence the ne- 
cessity of knowing and faithfully perform- 
ing those external ceremonies which the 



THE MASS. 71 

Church prescribes and which may be 
epitomized as follow: 

Low Mass. — From the coming of the 
priest to the altar until the beginning of 
Mass, that is until the priest commences 
the psalm Judica, and during the two 
gospel?, all stand. At all other times a 
kneeling posture should be observed. 

High Mass. — From the coming of the 
celebrant to the altar, and during the 
sprinkling of the holy water, all stand. 
From the psalm Judica to the intonation 
of the Gloria, kneeling is the posture. 
At the beginning of the Gloria the peo- 
ple rise and remain standing until the 
priest sits, when all do likewise. When 
the priest kissts the altar before the 
Dominus vobiscum, all stand and remain 
so during the singing of the collects or 
prayers. From the beginning of the Epis- 
tle until the Lominus v obi sewn before 
the Gospel, the people sit. All stand 
during the singing of the Gospel and re- 
main so while the priest recites the 
Credo. They genuflect with the cele- 
brant at the words Et incarnatus est. 



f- 



2 THE MASS. 



When the priest sits down the faithful 
sit also. When the choir sings Et incar- 
natus est * * * et Jiomo f actus est, 
all kneel. Afterwards they sit until the 
celebrant returns to the altar and kisses it. 
Then all rise and stand during the Domi- 
nies vobiscum and Oremus. Then the 
faithful sit until the priest sings Per om- 
nia saecula saccule rum before the Pre- 
face, when they stand till the Sanctus. 

At the Sanctus all kneel and remain so 
until the Per omnia saecula saeculorum 
before the Pater Noster when the faith- 
ful stand and remain so during the Pater 
Noster. From the end of the Pater Nos- 
ter until the second ablution all kneel. At 
the second ablution the faithful sit down 
until the priest kisses the altar before 
singing" Dominus vobiscum. During the 
Post-Communion prayers all stand and re- 
main so until the priest has sung lie Mis- 
sa est or Be?iedicamus Domino. They 
then kneel to receive the blessing. Dur- 
ing the last Gospel all stand. 

Solemn High Mass — During Solemn 
High Mass the faithful observe the same 



THE MASS. 73 

posture as at High Mass except that all 
should remain sitting while the celebrant 
reads the Gospel and standing during the 
incensation. N. B. (i) Should the cele- 
brant sit down during the Introit or Kyrie 
Eleison the people do the same. During 
the hymn Veni Creator all should kneel, 
and stand at the reading of the Gospel, and 
sit during the sermon except when the 
sermon is delivered by a bishop, in which 
case the faithful are accustomed to stand 
out of respect for the preacher. (2)On 
entering or leaving a church where the 
Blessed Sacrament is kept all should gen- 
uflect. If, however, the Blessed Sacra- 
ment be exposed, a genuflection on both 
knees and a profound inclination should 
be made. If the Blessed Sacrament be 
not kept in the tabernacle a low bow to 
to the cross is sufficient. 



74 THE MASS. 



<$$«pfer 8. 



T\)Z iptcttttter Of Is "to offer it 

||jmritt0 Pla00> to God with the 
Priest, for the same purposes for which 
it is said." That you may offer the Mass 
in union with the Priest, read attentively 
the "Prayers for Mass," either in a Mis- 
sal, or in some other prayer-book. If you 
use a Missal, you have then the very 
same prayers which the Priest says. If 
you use a prayer-book you have usually 
in it prayers which are fully expressive 
of the sentiments proper for each part of 
the Mass. Follow the Priest by reading 
the prayer corresponding to what he is 
reciting and to the ceremonies which he 
is performing, and thus offer the Mass 
"for the same purposes for which it is 
said." 

The ceremonies of the Mass are divid- 
ed into six parts. The first part is the 
preparation which the Priest makes at 
the foot of the Altar. The second con- 
tains the instructions and prayers which 



THE MASS. 75 

are made at the Altar before the Priest 
recites the ''Credo". The third is the 
oblation. The fourth is the "Canon" pre- 
ceding and following the Consecration. 
The fifth, commencing at the "Pater Nos- 
ter" includes that part of the Mass to 
the Communion. The sixth is thanks- 
giving after the Sacrifice. 

At the commencement of Mass, the 
Priest bows down his head and makes an 
humble confession of his sins to Almighty- 
God and to all the Saints, and then, strik- 
ing his breast in testimony of a contrite 
heart, implores the Divine mercy for him- 
self and those assisting. The people 
should do the same; presenting them- 
selves at the altar on bended knees; and 
with eyes cast down, as if unworthy to 
look up to Heaven, strike their breasts, 
as a sign of their sorrow for sin, and cry 
out with the humble Publican, ''God, be 
merciful to me a sinner." At the Kyrie 
Eleison — a prayer which the Priest re- 
peats nine times, in imitation of the nine 
choirs of Angels who are unceasingly 
adoring and praising the great power 



76 THE MASS. 

and mercy of God — pray to God for mer- 
cy; and, looking on your sad and sinful 
state, entreat of Jesus Christ to cast down 
on you one look of pity. 

At the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo," the 
Priest unites his voice to that of the An- 
gels, and recites that delightful hymnr 
the first words of which were sung by 
those Heavenly spirits at our Saviour's 
birth: "Glory be to God in the highest, 
and on earth peace to men of good will;" 
and during its recitation you should en- 
deavour to make your hearts and minds 
correspond to the noble words you utter, 
and repeat the hymn with, if possible, all 
the devotion the Angels felt when they 
first sung it. At the u Dominus vobis- 
cum" the Priest invites the congregation 
to pray with him; and lifting up his voice, 
his hands, and his heart to God, salutes 
the people in these words: "The Lord be 
with you." He prays that the Lord may 
be with you, that He may accompany 
you wherever you go, may be present 
with you in every place, and may protect 
you from every danger. The faithful 



THE MASS. 77 

should, in answer to this prayer of the 
Priest, unite their sentiments with his, 
and whilst he is reciting the ''Collects,"* 
beg fervently of Jesus Christ those graces 
which are necessary for their salvation. 

The Priest has now come to the ^Epis- 
tle." The "Epistle," so called because it 
is generally taken from the letters, or 
"Epistles," which the Apostles wrote to 
the faithful, contains some particular 
fact in Scripture, or some particular in- 
struction transmitted in their writings to 
posterity by those to whom Jesus said; 
"Go, teach all nations." Whilst the Priest 
reads it you should listen to it with at- 
tention, and pray that the Divine word 
may fructify in your soul. At the. "Gos- 
pel" some circumstance in the life of Je- 
sus Christ is read aloud; and when the 
Priest commences, you should stand up 
and declare by that posture, your readi- 
ness to go and do whatever shall be com- 
manded by your Saviour in His Gospel. 
At the ''Creed," the Church makes a pub- 
lic profession of her faith, by reciting the. 
"Nicene Creed," which contains the prin- 



73 THE MASS. 

cipal mysteries of our religion; and dur- 
ing the reading of it, let you accompany 
the Priest, not only in words, but also in 
spirit and heart, adoring and giving 
thanks to God for each of these mysteries 
by which Jesus Christ has redeemed and 
saved us. 

At the "Offertory," the Sacrifice begins 
by the offering which the Priest makes of 
the bread and wine, which at the "Con- 
secration" are to be changed into the 
body and blood of Christ. At this part 
of the Mass unite yourselves with the 
Priest in offering to the Lord this spot- 
less Host, that it may be immolated 
anew on the Altar for all your sins and 
frailties — for your spiritual welfare and 
for that of all the faithful, living and 
dead. At the "Preface" the Priest gives 
thanks to God for the innumerable bene- 
fits which we receive every day from His 
paternal goodness. Let you also return 
Him thanks for the many graces He has 
bestowed on you, and implore of Him a 
continuation of His favours. 

At the "Canon" — a word signifying a 



THE MASS. 79 

rule, because those particular prayers, at 
that part of the Mass, have always been 
fixed, regulated, and more determined by 
rule, than those which have preceded the 
Canon — the Priest prays for the entire 
Church, and by name for the Pope an$ 
the Bishop of the diocese. To this gen- 
eral prayer for the entire Church there 
are added particular ones for our friends 
and for all who are present. And it is 
here that we should, too, pray for our 
relatives, friends, and benefactors, and all 
those for whom we are bound to pray, 
that God may grant them all graces nec- 
essary to salvation. 

At the "Consecration" the bread and 
wine are changed into the body and 
blood of Christ by the Priest, but ''in vir- 
tue of the words of Christ, whose Person 
the Priest represents," at that awful mo- 
ment. The "Consecration" is certainly 
the most sacred and mysterious part of 
the Mass; and it is here that the powers 
of the body and soul should be absorbed 
and lost in contemplation of the God 
who descends on our Altars, At the 



.80 THE MASS. 

•'Memento for the Dead," the Priest prays 
for the souls in Purgatory; and let you, 
in union with him, offer up your prayers 
for the speedy release of those suffering 
souls, and beg of the Father of mercies 
to look down on them with an eye of 
pity, to relieve them in their pains, and 
grant them eternal rest. At the "Pater 
Noster" the Priest addresses to God the 
very prayer which Jesus Christ has taught 
us, and he recites it aloud, that we may 
unite in saying it with him, and ask of 
God everything necessary for our souls 
and bodies. 

At the " Agnus Dei," the Priest, inclin- 
ed towards the Host, strikes his breast, 
and three times prays to God for mercy 
and peace. We should also at that time 
beg of our Redeemer pardon of cur sins, 
and peace and rest to our souls. At the 
"Domine non sum dignus," the Priest 
striking his breast three times, declares 
himself unworthy to receive the body of 
our Lord. We should also repeat with 
liim the same words, and humble our- 
selves before our God. At the "Com- 



THE MASS. 81 

tnunion," the Priest receives the body 
and blood of Christ, and then he takes 
the Host, and afterwards the Chalice; 
and let you make an act of faith in the 
Heal Presence of Jesus Christ, and excite 
in yourself an ardent desire to be united 
to your Saviour in the Eucharist. 

At the ''Post Communion" the Priest 
addresses his prayers to God, to thank 
Him for His ineffable goodness in allow- 
ing him to participate in the Divine mys- 
teries, and to demand of Him the grace 
of reaping the fruits of them. You too 
should unite with the Priest in making a 
return of gratitude to God, and praying 
that He may never suffer you to be sepa- 
rated from Him by sin. The Priest then 
gives the ''Benediction" to the people, 
and while doing so let you bow down 
your head and receive it with devotion, 
as the blessing of the Church, and as the 
benediction of God Himself. At the 
conclusion of the Mass the "Last Gosper 
is read, which generally is the first part 
of St. John's Gospel, and in saying "and 
the Word was made flesh? the Priest 



82 THE MASS. 

genuflects. We, too, should adore the 
Word of God, who, on account of His 
great love for us, became Man, and 
dwelt amongst us. 

We have now gone through the prin- 
cipal parts of the Mass, in order that you 
may be able to "offer it to God with the 
Priest for the purposes for which it is 
said," which are, to adore God, to thank 
Him for His benefits, to obtain remission! 
of our sins, and to obtain of Him everjr 
grace we stand in need of. — Power. 



H$d6g>» 



THE MASS. 83 




«r 9. 



Manner ofgfSVV- The office of 
itt0 a %}VX2&t Ctt Mass server i# 
gOW PtCt*#* one of honor, 

and hence those who are permitted to' 
serve at the altar should duly appreciate 
and faithfully discharge it. The highest 
officials of state, yea, princes and kings 
have begged, with tears in their eyes r 
this privilege and wi h gratitude in their 
hearts, well have they performed their 
duty. It is the joy of the Catholic moth- 
er to see her much-loved boy within the 
altar rails. Fervently does she pray that 
it may be an indication of his vocation 
to the exalted dignity of the priesthood. 
Half believing, yet half doubtine, that 
God will deign to favor her son with so 
high a calling, she watches, prays and 
advises him to discharge his duties with 
a pure heart, a clean conscience and with 
knowledge sufficient. This is right. 
These are the promptings of a truly Cath- 
olic maternal heart. Yes, these are the 



Si THE MASS. 

dispositions which the server should 
bring to the altar. The former may be 
acquired by the frequent worthy recep- 
tion of the Sacraments, while the latter 
may be attained by a careful study of this 
chapter, with the instructions usually giv- 
en by the pastor. 

The following general rules should be 
observed by the server: 

i. A simple inclination is made by 
bending moderately the head downwards. 
A simple bow implies an inclination of 
the head and a moderate bending of the 
body. A low bow is made by bending 
the head and body profoundly. A bow 
is considered sufficiently profound, when 
the person that makes it, being in that 
position, can reach the knee with the ex- 
tremity of his hand. 

2. To make a genuflection, one should 
bring the right knee down to the floor 
near the left foot, without inclining the 
body, and then rise up again naturally, 
without too great haste. 

3. A genuflection on both knees is 
made by first bending the right knee to 



THE MASS. 85 

the floor, then the left likewise to the 
floor; and, having made a low bow, the 
person rises by lifting the left knee first, 
and then the right. 

4. To join one's hands properly, the 
palm of one hand should be applied to 
the palm of the other, and both held up- 
wards against the breast. The thumb of 
the right hand should cross the thumb of 
the left. During the Holy Sacrifice, 
whenever the hands are not necessarily 
employed, they should be joined. When, 
however, the right hand is only employed, 
the left should be placed upon the breast. 

5. The server should make an inclina- 
tion whenever he hears the priest pro- 
nounce the holy name of Jesus, of Mary, 
or of the saint whose festival is celebrat- 
ed, and on other occasions marked fur- 
theron in this chapter. 

6. In answering, he should take care 
to pronounce distinctly, and not too loud, 
or too quickly. He should hold his head 
a little inclined, and his eyes modestly 
lowered. 

7. At the appointed time the server 



86 THE MAJSS. 

puts on the surplice; and if no one be ap- 
pointed to prepare the cruets, light the 
candles, and make other necessary prep- 
arations, he should attend to it. Then 
he places himself at the left of the priest 
and helps him to vest. Whilst the priest 
puts on the amice, the server prepares 
the alb, and then puts it on him, and as- 
sists him by holding up first the right 
sleeve of the alb, and then the left. Af- 
terwards he takes the girdle (keeping the 
tassels at his right) arid gives it to the 
priest, so that he may easily gird himself. 
He should take care to adjust the alb ins 
such a manner as to let it hang equally 
around, about an inch from the floor. 
After that he presents to him the mani- 
ple to kiss, and fastens it on his left arm. 
Then he hands him the stole, and finally 
he assists him in putting on the chasuble. 
To give notice to the faithful that Mass 
is about to begin, the server should strike 
the large gong at the sacristy door. Af- 
ter the priest is vested, he takes the mis- 
sal, holding it with both his hands before 
his breast, having the back of it to his. 



THE MASS. 87 

iright. He makes a low bow to the chief 
image in the sacristy, with the priest, 
and a simple bow to him, and goes before 
.him to the altar. 

From the beginning of the Mass to 
the end of it the server should observe 
the following: 

1. Being arrived before the lowest step 
-of the altar, the server places himself at 
the right of the priest, from whom he re- 
ceives the cap, kissing it, after kissing the 
priest's hand. He makes a genuflection 
on the floor with the priest, or (if the 
Blessed Sacrament be not there) a pro- 
found bow; and raising a little the priest's 
vesture, he ascends the steps with him. 
He places the book on the stand, so as 
to have the back of it turned to the right. 
(The server does not open the book.) 
Then he puts the cap at a suitable place, 
and goes to the Gospel side, kneels on 
the floor at the left of the priest, a little 
in the rear, and joins his hands. 

2. When the priest descends to the 
floor to commence Mass, and makes a 
genuflection or a bow, the server makes 



88 THE MASS. 

a profound bow. He makes the sign of 
the cross with him, and answers as fol- 
lows: 

P. Introibo ad altareDei. 5. AdDeum y 
qui hetificat juventutem meant. P. Ju- 
dica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam 
de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo 
et doloso erue me. S. Quia tu es , Deus, 
fortitudo meet: quare me repulisti, et 
quare tristis inccdo dum affligit me in- 
imicus? P. Emitte lucem tuam et veri- 
tatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt, et ad- 
duxerunt in montem sanctum tuum et in 
tabernacula tua. S. Et introibo ad alt are 
Dei : ad Deum, qui Ice tificat juventutem 
meam. P. Confitebor tibi in cithara De- 
us, Deus meus: quare tristis es, anima 
mea, et quare conturbas me? S. Spera 
in Deo, quoniam adhuc co'ifitebor illi ; 
salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus. P* 
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto- 
S* Si cut erat in pricipio, et nunc, et sem- 
per, et in scecula sceculorum Amen. P.. 
Introibo ad altare Dei. S. Ad Deum, 
qui Icetificat juventutem meam. P. Ad- 
jutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. S. 



THE MASS. 89 

Qui fecit cesium et terram. P. Confiteor 
Deo, etc. S. Misereatur tui omnipotens 
Deus, et dimissis peccatis tuts, per ducat 
1e ad vitam ceternam. P. Amen. 5. 
Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Ma- 
riae semper Virginia beato Michaeli 
Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, sane- 
tis apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus 
Sanctis, et tibi, Pater , quia peccavi nimis 
cogitatione, verbo et opere mea culpa, mea 
culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo pre cor bea- 
tam Mariam semper Virginem, bcatum 
Michaelem Ar change lum, beatum Joan- 
nem Baptistam, sanotos apostolos Pet?um 
et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te, Pater, 
orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum, 
P. Misereatur vestri, etc. S. Amen. P. 
Indulgentiam,absolutionem,etc. S. Amen. 
P. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos. S. 
Et plebs tua lactxbitur in te. P. Osten- 
de nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam. 
S. Et salutare tuum da nobis. P. Dom- 
ine, exaudi orationem meam. 5. Et 
clamor meus ad te veniat. P. Dominus 
vobiscum. S. Et cum spiritu tuo. P. 
Kyrie Eleison. 5. Kyrie Eleison. P. 



90 THE MASS. 

Kyrie Eleison. S. Christe Eleison. P. 
•Christe Eleison. 5. Christe Eleison. 
P. Kyrie Eleison. 5. Kyrie Eleison. 
P. Kyrie Eleison. P. Dominus vobis- 
cum. 5. Et cum spiritu tuo. The 
first and last* collects end with Per Om- 
nia saecula saeculorum. S. Amen. He 
bows at the Gloria Patri. After the 
priest has said the Confiteor, the server, 
inclining a little towards the priest, says 
Misereatur tui, etc.; then, bowing pro- 
foundly towards the altar, he says the 
Confiteor. At the words et tdi Pater, 
et te Pater, he turns his head somewhat 
towards the priest. He strikes his breast 
thrice when he says mea culpa, mea culpa, 
mea maxima culpa. When the priest has 
said Misereatur vestri, etc., the server 
raises his head. At the words Deus tu 
£onversus, he inclines a little. At the 
words Dominus vobiscum, he rises and 
raises a little the priest's alb, while he as- 
cends the steps. Then he kneels on the 
lowest step, and remains there till the end 
of the Epistle. 

3. He says the Kyrie eleison alternate- 



THE MASS. 91 

\y with the priest. If the celebrant says 
Flectanius genua, the server answers 
Levate. If there be more than one epis- 
tle, he answers, Deo gratias, at the end 
of each of them. The server should ob- 
serve that the priest lowers his voice and 
stops at the end of the Epistle. The 
Epistle or Epistles being read, he rises, 
makes a genuflection or a bow in the 
middle, and goes to the book. If the 
priest makes a genuflection, as happens 
during Lent, the server makes also a 
genuflection. When the priest has done 
reading, the server carries the book with 
the stand to the Gospel side, making a 
genuflection or a bow in the middle, as 
he passes. Having placed the book on 
the altar, he turns it a little to the right, 
and goes below the platform near the 
book. He answers at the Dominus vo- 
biscum, Et cum spiritu tuo ; and at the 
words Sequentia Sancti Evangelii, he 
puts his left hand on his breast, and with 
the thumb ot the right he makes a cross 
on his forehead, lips, and breast, and 
answers Gloria tibi, Domine. As the 



92 THE MASS. 

priest pronounces the name of Jesus in 
the beginning of the Gospel, the server 
bows towards the book, and goes down 
on the floor to the Epistle side, making 
a genuflection or a bow in the middle. 
If the name of Jesus be not mentioned, 
then he bows to the priest, and goes to 
his place, and there he stands during the 
Gospel, at the end of which he answers, 
Laus tibi Christe, and kneels down. 

4. If the Credo be said, the server 
kneels down during it, and makes a low 
bow at the words, Et incarnatus est, etc. 
Having answered Et cam spiritu tuo at 
the Dominus vobiscum he rises and goes 
to the side-table, takes the cruets, and 
carries them to the altar on the Epistle 
side. (He folds the veil of the chalice, if 
the priest leaves it unfolded.) When the 
celebrant approaches the corner of the 
Epistle, the server bows to him, and pre- 
sents the cruet with wine to him, after 
first kissing it; he receives it back, kiss- 
ing it, and presents to him the cruet with 
water, kissing it both before giving it and 
after receiving it. (He does not kiss the 



THE MASS. 93 

priest's hand.) Afterwards he puts the 
towel on the altar in such a manner that 
the priest may easily take it, when he is 
to wipe his fingers. At the words "Veni 
sanctificator," he takes in his right hand 
the cruet with water, and the plate in 
the left, and pours water on the priest's 
fingers, bowing to him before and after. 

5. Having placed the cruets on the 
side- table, he kneels on the first step in 
front of the altar at the Epistle side; he 
answers at the Orate fratres, etc. S. Susci- 

j>iat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuts 
ad laudem et gloriam nominis sut y ad 
utilitatetn quo que nostram, totiusque Ec- 
tlesiae suae sanctae. Afterwards he an- 
swers at the Preface, P. Per omnia saec- 
ula saeculorum. 5. Amtn. P. Dominus 
vobiscum; 5. Et cum spiritu tuo. P. Sur- 
sum corda. 5. Habemus ad Dominiim. 
P. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro. 
^. Dignvm et jus turn est, and moderate- 
ly rings the bell at the Sanctus three 
times. 

6. At the words Hanc igitur, ftie 
server rings the bell to give notice of the 



9i THE MASS. 

consecration soon to take place and at 
the words Qui pr idle, etc., the server goes 
4ip and kneels on the edge of the plat- 
form, at the right of the pries 1 . He in- 
clines during the consecration of both 
species, and makes a low bow when the 
priest adores the Blessed Sacrament. At 
eich elevation the server raises a little 
the ext remit v of the chasuble with his- 
left hand, and with his right gives three 
strokes of the be] 1 viz: one as the priest 
genuflects, another when he elevates and 
the third when he genuflects. 

7. The elevation being over, he rises,, 
makes a genuflection, and goes to kneel 
at his plare. He strikes his breast at the 
w >'ds lYobis q 'toque fcccatoribus. He 
answers at the Per omnia saecula saeculor- 
nm, Amen, and at the end of the Pater 
Nosier, Sed libera vos a mahh He an- 
s. vers a <£ain at the Per omnia, etc.. Amen* 
and at the Pax Domini, etc., Et cum sfiir- 
itu tuo When the priest says Domine 
mm sum dii>'uus, etc., the server inclines, 
ar^d rings the bell moderately thrice, that 
if there be persons to go to Communion,. 



THE MASS. 95 

they may approach the holy table. When 
the priest uncovers the chalice after re- 
ceiving the sacred body, the server rises, 
makes a genuflection, goes to the side- 
table, takes the cruets, carries them up- 
to the altar, and inclines when the priest 
takes the sacred blood; after which he 
ministers wine and water with the usual 
bows and kisses. 

8. If there are communicants, after the 
priest has received the most precious 
blood, the server, kneeling, bows pro- 
foundly, and says the Confiteor. He in- 
clines and answers at the Misereatur ves- 
tri, Amen, and makes the sign of the cross 
at the words Indulgeniiam, etc., Amen. 
The bell should not be rung when the 
priest says here Domine non sum dignus. 
The Communion being over, he raises the 
priest's alb while he ascends the steps, and 
kneels again until the priest has closed the 
tabernacle; after which he presents the 
cruets as is said above. 

9. Having placed the cruets on the 
side-table, the server goes to the Gospel 
side^ takes the book, and carries it with 



96 THE MASS. 

the stand to the Epistle side, making a 
genuflection in the middle as he passes; 
after which he kneels on the lowest step 
at the Epistle side, making a genuflection 
in the middle as he passes. He answers 
at the Duminus vobiscum, Et cumspiritu 
tuo, and at the end of the prayers, Amen. 
At the Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu 
tuo, and Ite, missa est or Benedicamus 
Domino, Deo gratias. When the priest 
gives the blessing, the server, remaining 
at his place, bows and makes the sign of 
the cross, at the end of which he answers, 
Amen. Then he rises, answers at the 
Dominus vobiscum, Sequentia Sancti 
Evangelii, as at the first Gospel, and at the 
beginning (of the Gospel) signing him- 
self, as mentioned there. Towards the 
•end of the Gospel, he goes for the priest's 
cap; he bends the knee at the words Et 
Verbum caro, etc., and at the end answers 
Deo gratias. Then he goes up to the 
altar, takes the book, bows to the cross 
with the priest, and with him he goes 
down and makes a genuflection on the 
floor, or a bow. He gives the cap to the 



THE MASS. 97 

priest, kissing it and his hand, and goes 
before him to the sacristy. There, after 
making a low bow to the image with the 
priest, he bows to him. After that he 
puts the book at its place, and helps the 
priest to disrobe. Finally, he takes off 
his surplice, and retires. 

10. If there be a last Gospel peculiar 
to the day, after the priest has said Ite^ 
missa est or Benedicamus Domino, the 
server takes the book to the Gospel side, 
taking care to kneel when the priest gives 
the blessing. He should stand near the 
book below the platform until the priest 
has done reading, after which he carries 
the book back to the Epistle side. 

ii. Should the Mass be celebrated in 
presence of the Blessed Sacrament expos- 
ed, the genuflection, in going to and leav- 
ing the altar, is made on both knees. 
Neither the priest's hand, nor his cap, 
nor the cruets, are kissed. The server 
pours water on the priest's hands, stand- 
ing on the floor at the Epistle side, with 
the towel on his arm. 

12. When Mass is for the dead, the 



98 



THE MASS. 



psalm, Judica me, etc., is not said. The 
usual kisses are omitted. At the end of 
Mass, the priest, instead of Ite, miss'a est, 
says, Reouiescant in pace, to which the 
server answers, Amen. — Ceremonial and 
Missal. 




THE MASS. 99 



Pre^s Comments. 



'The Mass, What it is Nut, acd What it Is '' 

[Newton Daily Kansan.J 

A new treatise entitled "The Mass, What it is Not, and 
What it Is," in neat pamphlet form has just been issued 
from the office of Thk S vhool Journal. The arguments 
;are well put and the deducti ns logical. From cover to 
cover it is full of information useful to tho^e who wish to 
know the Mass, as well as all things else which have relation 
to it. Priue 35 cents. 



Multum la Parvo- 

[Newton Journal. J 

"The Mass, What it is Not, and What it Is," has just 
been issued fiom the office of The Sohool Journal. It 
is logical, instruct ve and will, no doubt, do much to re- 
move prejudice from non-Cat iiolic minds regarding this 
mysterious rite of the Catholic Church. 

In issuing this pamphlet Father Casey has rendered no 
small service to those who really wish to know what the 
Catholic church teaches and bel eves regarding the Mass. 

Sold by booksellers at 35 cents. 



Kepiete With Information. 
[Newton Daily Republican.] 

A pamphlet entitled "The Mass, What it is Not, and 
What it Is," has just been issued in connection with the 
School Journal. As every line from the first to the dose is 
replete with information, it will repay any one, Catholic or 
non-Catholic, to read it. Every subject is treated in a 
<clear, concise and attractive manner. Sold by booksellers 
at 35 cents. 



100 THE MASS. 



™E"C©PlFESSiONAL." 

What it is Not and What it is. 

SECOgg ^EPITION! 

Just issued from the office of the School Journal;. 
deals with the subject in a logical arid conclusive 
manner. It is just the thing for Catholics who wish 
to have all the arguments in proof of the doctrine in 
a clear and popular style. There is no book better 
for distribution among the people generally. The 
contents will give some idea of the work itself. 
CHAPTER I. 

The Confessional. — What it is Not. — Why Non- 
Catholics do not wish to speak of it or discuss the 
power of forgiving sin3. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Confessional is not the Invention of Priests. — 
The most ancient of the fathers speak of it.— Pagan 
Philosophers favor Confession. 

CHAPTER III. 

All Christians should admit that Jesus Christ 
must have instituted a means of restoring peace and 
grace to the soul after its defilement by mortal sin,, 
and should accept, rather than repudiate, this great 
boon. 

CHAPTER IV T . 

No one on earth can perform a miracle; neither 
can anyone forgive sin by his own power or private 
authority. But Christ had the power and willed it 
and actually conferred upon His church the power 
to forgive sins. 



THE MASS. 101 

CHAPTER V. 
Christ actually imposed an obligation on the faith- 
ful to confess their sins in order to have them re- 
mitted or retained. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The fathers of the church bear testimony to and 
prove the necessity of auricular confession. 
CHAPTER VIL 

Advantages of the Confessional. — Rousseau's and 
Voltaire's admission. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Advantages of the Confessional (Continued.) — 
Cardinal Newman's testimony. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Confessional is the civil izer of man and con- 
servator of his morals. — A glance at Roman so-called 
civilization without the Confessional. 
CHAPTER X. 

Christianity without the Confessional did not, and 
could not civilize a single tribe, people or nation. — 
Christianity without the Confessional breeds con- 
tempt of the words of God, of the Sacraments, of 
the clergy, of church and school, according to Mar- 
tin Luther himself. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Christianity without the Confessional bore the 
following fruits, according to Luther's own state- 
ment: Neglect of the poor and of the sick; sad state 
of the youth; increase of drunkenness; increase of 
the number of suicides; lower state of general moral- 
ity. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The united wisdom of man has never and can nev- 
er discover a better medicine for the ills of the in- 
dividual and society than the Confessional.— It 
makes good christians and good citizens. 
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102 THE MASS. 



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A Catholic Magazine, devoted to the interests 
of Parochial Schools. 

IF NOT, WHY NOT? 

There is no Publication in the Union that contains so 
much Reading Matter, from the pens of the Best Writers, 
on this most important subject. Catholic parents who wish 
to discharge their duty intelligently and conscientiously 
cannot afford to do without it. Parishes having Parochial 
Schools are benefitted by its circulation. Parishes having 
no Parochial Schools cannot but come into line even at a 
great sacrifice if the School Journal be circulated. The 
School Journal helps the pastor ,the parents, the children in 
the all-important matter of Catholic education. The rights 
of Catholics are fearlessly and continuously advocated in 
its columns. Send at once your subscription for one year, 
75 cts.. or at least write for a sample copy. Address, 

Editor SCHOOL JOURNAL. 

206 East Sixth Street, NEWTON, KANSAS. 



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88 



THE MASS. 



WHAT IT IS NOT, 



WHAT IT IS. 



BY THE CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY. 



PRICE 35 CENTS. 



H OFFICE OF SCHOOL JOURNAL, NEWTON, KS. W& 



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1.1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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029 734 937 5 



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